Mon, 09/02/2024 - 13:15

Cox's Saratoga runners headed five different directions

Highland Falls wins Jockey Club Gold Cup at SAR Sept 1 2024

Barbara D. Livingston

Highland Falls is scheduled to leave Saratoga by van Tuesday and head to Churchill Downs.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Between Monday and Tuesday, trainer Brad Cox had horses lined up to ship from Saratoga to five different tracks. After the weekend the Cox stable enjoyed, those vans were carrying even more precious cargo than perhaps anticipated.

Highland Falls, winner of Sunday’s Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Immersive, winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Spinaway were scheduled to ship Tuesday to Churchill Downs as they prepare for their fall campaigns, which Cox and owner Godolphin Racing hope includes starts at the Breeders’ Cup in November at Del Mar.

Mon, 09/02/2024 - 12:20

Pacific Classic Day handle declines; Hong Kong handles $5.43 million on stakes

By Steve Andersen

Benoit Photo

Mixto edges past Full Serrano on his way to victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Attendance rose modestly while all-sources handle fell sharply on Saturday’s Pacific Classic program at Del Mar, the richest day of racing at the track’s summer meeting.

According to figures released Saturday evening, all-sources handle was $22,879,604, a decline from $27,757,766 from the corresponding day in 2023. Saturday’s handle figure was the lowest for a Pacific Classic program since the day produced a handle of $19.3 million in 2015.

Mon, 09/02/2024 - 10:54

Champions of Champions purse reduced to $600,000

By Steve Andersen

The purse of the Champion of Champions on Dec. 14 at Los Alamitos, the nation’s leading race for older Quarter Horses, has been reduced from $700,000 to $600,000 because of increased fees the track must pay the California Horse Racing Board in the current fiscal year, the track announced in a statement last week.

Sat, 08/31/2024 - 20:14

String of upsets cause $210,165 pick six carryover into Sunday card

By David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston

Saratoga's Sunday card, the penultimate program of the 40-day meet, will feature a pick six carryover of $210,165.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The upset victories by Immersive ($27.40) in the Grade 1 Spinaway and Idea Generation ($64.50) in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl resulted in there being a pick six carryover of $210,165 into Sunday’s 13-race card at Saratoga.

The Sunday pick six will begin in race 8 (3:59 p.m.) and include three races scheduled for the turf, including the $150,000 Bernard Baruch Stakes. The Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, scheduled for 1 1/4 miles on dirt and featuring Grade 1 Whitney winner Arthur’s Ride, is also in the sequence.

Fri, 08/30/2024 - 14:40

Skippylongstocking, Crupi eyeing Woodward at Aqueduct

By David Grening

Skippylongstocking wins the Charles Town Oaks Aug 23 2024

Coady Media

In a change from last year, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. wants another race for Skippylongstocking before the Breeders’ Cup.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Skippylongstocking, the fifth-place finisher in the Grade 1 Whitney who came out of that race to win his second straight Charles Town Classic, will be pointed to the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes on Sept. 28 at Aqueduct, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said.

Fri, 08/30/2024 - 14:40

Mystic Lake headed to Cotillion

By David Grening

Coady Media

Mystic Lake performed very well at two turns while winning the seven-furlong Charles Town Oaks by 5 3/4 lengths.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There likely won’t be many who take on Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 21, but Mystic Lake is expected to be one of them.

Mystic Lake, a dominant 5 3/4-length winner of the Charles Town Oaks on Aug. 23, is being pointed to the Cotillion, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. While run at seven furlongs, the Charles Town Oaks was contested around two turns. The Cotillion is run at 1 1/16 miles around two turns.

Fri, 08/30/2024 - 14:25

Mentee was sicker than originally known this summer; ready for Hopeful

By David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston

Mentee, the 2-year-old full brother to Fierceness, was sent to Rood and Riddle when he started to show signs of laminitis.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Mentee, the 2-year-old full brother to Fierceness who won his debut at Aqueduct in June, was dealing with more than just a temperature when he was sidelined earlier this summer.

Mentee ended up in a clinic in Saratoga for several days where he had the onset of the potentially fatal hoof disease known as laminitis. But it was caught in time and Mentee was treated and he resumed training in time to run in Monday’s Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga.

Fri, 08/30/2024 - 14:05

Sadler opts for sprint with Bran in Eddie D

By Steve Andersen

Barbara D. Livingston

Trainer John Sadler has opted to send Bran to the Eddie D Stakes at Santa Anita instead of the Del Mar Mile.

Bran, the winner of three sprint stakes on turf since April 2022, was held out of Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile in favor of the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.

“I don’t want to do both,” trainer John Sadler said on Friday morning. “Everything is good. We’re just changing course.”

The $300,000 Del Mar Mile is the leading turf race at that distance of the track’s summer meeting. The Eddie D Stakes is run at about 6 1/2 furlongs and will be worth a record $750,000 this year. The purse was $200,000 in 2023.

Fri, 08/30/2024 - 13:57

Part of Pacific Classic card to be simulcast in Hong Kong

By Steve Andersen

Benoit Photo

Saturday's Pacific Classic, Green Flash, and Del Mar Mile will be simulcast for wagering in Hong Kong.

Part of Saturday’s Pacific Classic program at Del Mar is going global.

For the first time for Del Mar, three stakes on Saturday’s program, including the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, will be simulcast for wagering to Hong Kong.

The arrangement to simulcast a non-Breeders’ Cup race from the United States to Hong Kong is a first since the Kentucky Derby in 2012, according to Bill Nader, the president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. Nader was formerly a high-ranking official with the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Fri, 08/30/2024 - 11:30

Adare Manor will scratch from Pacific Classic after tying up

By Steve Andersen

Benoit photo

Adare Manor was scratched from the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Friday.

Adare Manor, California’s leading older female, will not start in Saturday’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar after tying up after training on Thursday, trainer Bob Baffert said.

Adare Manor was the 9-5 favorite on the morning line to win the $1 million Pacific Classic.

“Adare Manor tied up a little bit after her gallop,” Baffert said. “I don’t feel she’s 100 percent. She can’t be off of her game.

“We’re going to sit this one out.”

Subscribe to Track Notes