HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Little Mike worked four furlongs in 49.60 seconds over the main track at Palm Meadows on Friday with jockey Elvis Trujillo aboard as he gets ever closer to launching his comeback. Little Mike, 9, has not started since winning the Flying Pidgeon overnight stakes here with Trujillo aboard in May 2014.
The winner of the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Turf, he has had a series of stamina-enhancing works – four breezes at a mile – over the main track at Palm Meadows since May 14.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The quest to get some black type for the well-bred Lady Serena returns to Gulfstream Park on Sunday when she faces seven rivals in the $75,000 Barely Even Stakes for fillies and mares going a mile on the main track.
Lady Serena, by Bernardini, is a three-quarter sister to the multiple Grade 1 winner Honor Code. She began her career with trainer Chad Brown before being transferred to Joe Sharp this summer.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Since turf racing ceased here on June 19, field sizes have fallen sharply.
For the five racing days from June 23 through Thursday, fields averaged 6.71 runners. For the entire spring-summer meeting, which began May 5, fields have averaged 7.44 runners. The corresponding meeting in 2015 had an average field size of 7.84 runners. The winter-spring meeting, which ran from late December to early April, averaged 8.1 runners per race.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Arrogate, the winner of an allowance race at Santa Anita on June 24, is a candidate for the $1.25 million Travers Stakes for 3-year-olds at Saratoga on Aug. 27. Where the highly promising colt has a prep race remains to be seen.
On Friday, trainer Bob Baffert said he has not decided on Arrogate’s next start. Options include the $500,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand on July 16 or the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 31.
“I’ll let him dictate,” Baffert said. “I think the Travers will be ideal. He’ll love the mile and a quarter.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 2 winners Bolo and Flamboyant both will return from a layoff to start in the $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes on turf at Del Mar on July 17.
Bolo won the Grade 2 Arcadia Stakes at Santa Anita in February and was 10th in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 7. Trained by Carla Gaines for Golden Pegasus Racing and Earle Mack, Bolo missed the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on June 4 because of illness.
Bolo, 4, has won 4 of 11 starts and earned $493,700.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Stellar Wind, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, might not travel far for her next start.
Stellar Wind was second to the three-time champion Beholder in the Grade 1 Vanity Mile at Santa Anita on June 4. Trainer John Sadler said a rematch with Beholder in the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on July 30 is a possibility for Stellar Wind.
Other options include the $750,000 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park on July 16 or the $200,000 Shuvee Handicap at Saratoga on July 31.
“If I’m leaning one direction, it’s to stay home,” Sadler said.
Jockey David Flores, who was named to ride in the fifth race Thursday at Belmont Park, has been replaced on the mount because he has not yet been granted a New York jockey's license.
"Mr. Flores is currently not able to participate because he has not complied with licensing requirements," said Lee Park, director of communications for the New York State Gaming Commission.
X Y Jet, who had a chip in his knee discovered after his second-place finish in the Dubai Golden Shaheen in March, returned to trainer Jorge Navarro's barn Monday at Monmouth Park with the goal to get him to compete in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Owned by Rockingham Ranch and Gelfenstein Farm, X Y Jet had been recovering at Taylor Made Farm.
Ted Gondron, who has not ridden in a race since September 2007, has been named to ride West in Saturday night’s sixth race at Lone Star Park. The $25,000 maiden-claiming sprint for 2-year-olds will be run over five furlongs. Danny Pish owns and trains West.
Gondron is a winner of more than 2,000 races. He won his first race in July 1987 at Evangeline Downs. He ranks as one of the all-time winningest riders at Sam Houston.
Royal Ascot heroine Tepin settled back into stall 1 at the Mark Casse barn at Churchill Downs on Monday after clearing quarantine in New York the previous week.
The well-traveled Tepin, who concluded her Eclipse Award-winning 2015 campaign with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, is riding a seven-race win streak, most recently the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes on June 14 at Royal Ascot.
