Ricardo Santana Jr. didn’t ride at Churchill Downs last weekend due to an international adventure, as he finished a creditable fifth aboard Impulsive in the 90th Gazi Derby, Turkey’s most prestigious horse race, at the Veliefendi Hippodrome in Istanbul on Sunday.
Graystorm, ridden by Ahmet Celik, was victorious in the 22-horse field. That colt was already a multiple stakes winner, including a prep victory in the Turkish 2000 Guineas.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – That collective sigh of relief heard from the Gulfstream Park racing office and points north on Wednesday came from the connections of seven of the eight fillies and mares entered in Saturday’s Grade 2 Princess Rooney once they learned that the multiple Grade 1 winner Sheer Drama will not be in the race.
The Princess Rooney was one of the three graded stakes on Saturday’s Summit of Speed program to be drawn Wednesday, along with the Grade 2 Smile Sprint and Grade 3 Carry Back.
Los Alamitos has scheduled five stakes for its 12-day Los Angeles County Fair meeting, which runs from Sept. 8-25, led by the $200,000 Los Alamitos Derby on Sept. 24.
The Los Alamitos Derby was run in July in 2014 and 2015. This year, the track ran a three-week meeting in April and does not have a July meeting.
The Grade 2 Los Alamitos Derby is run at 1 1/8 miles and could produce a runner for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Danzing Candy, who finished 15th in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7, is scheduled to have his first start for trainer Bob Baffert in Saturday’s $100,000 Affirmed Stakes for 3-year-olds.
Danzing Candy was transferred from trainer Cliff Sise to Baffert in the days after the Kentucky Derby by owners Jim and Dianne Bashor and Ted Aroney. In the Kentucky Derby, Danzing Candy set the pace to the final turn and faded through the final furlong to finish 20 lengths behind the winner, Nyquist.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Installation of new sod on the oval portion of the turf course at Santa Anita was scheduled to be completed Wednesday, June 29, a track official said.
Santa Anita is replacing its turf course after widespread complaints about the level of wear and tear and the number of divots being kicked up.
The new turf, called Bandera Bermuda, must be mature enough to sustain racing starting with the opening day of the track’s autumn meeting on Sept. 30. Santa Anita hosts the Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 4-5.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The once-beaten Plate Trial winner Amis Gizmo drew post 10 and has been made the 3-1 favorite for the 157th running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine on Sunday.
Along with Gamble’s Ghost, Amis Gizmo is one of two serious contenders in the 13-horse field owned by Ivan Dalos and trained by Josie Carroll. Gamble’s Ghost, the lone filly in the lineup, drew post 13 and is the 6-1 fourth choice under new rider Patrick Husbands. Luis Contreras, who had been riding both, chose Amis Gizmo.
With the Pimlico meet in the books, Maryland racing on Friday returns to Laurel Park, where, except for a short break for the Timonium fair season, it will remain for the rest of the year.
Racing will be held at the Laurel summer meet Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until Aug. 21. Fridays will be twilight cards with a 3:40 p.m. Eastern first post. The Saturday and Sunday cards will begin at 1:25 p.m.
The seven-day Timonium meet will run from Aug. 28 through Labor Day. Racing will then return to Laurel on Sept. 9 and continue through Dec. 31.
Chris Griffin, the race-caller at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet, has had a varied background at the microphone. Before he began calling horse races, he was the announcer for the Harlem Globetrotters and for the National Hot Rod Association. Griffin has called the races at Ferndale and at the most recent Portland Meadows meeting.
As a child, Griffin would make a game out of rolling golf balls around a self-made track.
Two Thoroughbred stakes are on tap this weekend. On Saturday, 2-year-old fillies meet in the $50,000-added Juan Gonzalez Memorial. Sunday’s feature is the $100,000 Everett Nevin Stakes for 2-year-old California-breds. Both races are at 5 1/2 furlongs.
Two Arabian stakes also will be run Saturday: the $48,000-estimated Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Arabian Cup and the $41,000-estimated H.H. Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship.
