Mon, 03/14/2016 - 14:36

No Dubai this year for Salutos Amigos

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Tom Fool winner Salutos Amigos will make his next start in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The logistics of getting Salutos Amigos to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen on March 26 turned out to be more difficult than trainer David Jacobson had hoped, so the 6-year-old gelding instead will make his next start in the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 9.

Mon, 03/14/2016 - 14:06

Zulu looking to avoid Mohaymen, Nyquist in Florida Derby

Barbara D. Livingston
Zulu could skip the Florida Derby if top 3-year-olds Mohaymen and Nyquist both run, according to trainer Todd Pletcher.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With a marquee matchup between Mohaymen and Nyquist likely, trainer Todd Pletcher is considering taking arguably his top Kentucky Derby prospect, Zulu, elsewhere rather than meeting the two division leaders in the $1 million Florida Derby here April 2.

Mon, 03/14/2016 - 12:06

Camilla Urso nominees still weighing options

Shane Micheli/Vassar Photography
Living the Life, who won last year's Camilla Urso Stakes, will skip the race to run in the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita.

Nominating horses to stakes races is part of the price of doing business when you have a talented runner. The connections of 10 older fillies and mares spent $50 each to nominate them for Saturday’s $50,000 Camilla Urso at Golden Gate Fields. They also spent $100 each to nominate them for Sunday’s Grade 3 Las Flores at Santa Anita.

Living The Life, who won the Camilla Urso last year, was nominated to this year’s edition, but trainer Gary Mandella said she will run Saturday in the Grade 1, $500,000 Santa Margarita at Santa Anita.

Mon, 03/14/2016 - 11:30

Strong attendance, record handle for Festival Day

Tom Keyser
Tampa Bay Downs had a record handle on Festival Day, which featured Destin winning the Tampa Bay Derby.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Tampa Bay Downs officials on Saturday were celebrating a successful Festival Day card during which 10,206 racing fans packed the facility and the program’s four stakes races each were decided by one length or less.

Though the attendance figure did not rank among the top 10 figures in track history, all-sources handle on the 12-race card totaled $12.25 million, easily breaking the track record of $10.95 million set on Festival Day in 2011, the track said. Ontrack wagering on Saturday totaled $815,918.

Sun, 03/13/2016 - 15:16

Kobe's Back could head to Kentucky for Churchill Downs Handicap

Shigeki Kikkawa
Kobe's Back may run on the Kentucky Derby undercard in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Handicap.

Kobe’s Back, who won his second straight stakes race in the Grade 2 San Carlos on Saturday at Santa Anita, could head to Kentucky for his next start. His trainer, Pete Eurton, said the Grade 2, $500,000 Churchill Downs Handicap on May 7 – Kentucky Derby Day – is something he and owners Lee and Susan Searing are strongly considering.

 The Churchill Downs, like the San Carlos, is at seven furlongs.

Sun, 03/13/2016 - 15:09

Churchill's Alysheba Stakes one option for Melatonin

Barbara D. Livingston
The Alysheba, part of the Kentucky Oaks undercard, is one possibility for Melatonin's next start.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The options trainer David Hofmans envisioned for Melatonin looked far more enticing on Sunday morning than they had the prior morning, before Melatonin pulled off a 16-1 upset under Joe Talamo in the Santa Anita Handicap.

 “We took a shot. It wasn’t the strongest field,” Hofmans said Sunday morning.

Sun, 03/13/2016 - 15:00

Danzing Candy, Mor Spirit will meet again in Santa Anita Derby

Shigeki Kikkawa
San Felipe winner Danzing Candy and runner-up Mor Spirit will both point to the Santa Anita Derby on April 9.

Danzing Candy and Mor Spirit, who finished one-two in the Grade 2 San Felipe on Saturday, are likely to meet again April 9 in the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby, the final local prep for the Kentucky Derby on May 7.

Danzing Candy scored a two-length victory over Mor Spirit while earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 100. It was his third straight win, all at this meet, all with Mike Smith aboard.

Sun, 03/13/2016 - 11:54

Salutos Amigos will skip Golden Shaheen to await Carter

Joe Labozzetta/NYRA
Salutos Amigos goes from last of 11 to first under Cornelio Velasquez in the Tom Fool Handicap.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The logistics of getting Salutos Amigos to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen on March 26 turned out to be more difficult than trainer David Jacobson had hoped so the 6-year-old gelding instead will make his next start in the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 9.

Fri, 03/11/2016 - 20:21

Santa Anita cancels last three races Friday after downpour

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita canceled the final three races on Friday’s nine-race program after jockeys complained of excessive water on the backstretch following two hours of rain through the early afternoon.

Fri, 03/11/2016 - 16:32

Louisiana Downs cancels racing through Wednesday

Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, which is conducting a meet for Quarter Horses, has called off racing from Saturday through Wednesday due to extensive flooding in the area, said Trent McIntosh, the track’s director of operations. McIntosh said an ontrack casino was closed down at 1 p.m. Central on Friday.

Louisiana Downs began evacuating horses Thursday night and had less than 100 head left to move as of midafternoon Friday, according to McIntosh. Louisiana Downs is scheduled to race through March 24.