ELMONT, N.Y. – The 3-year-old Manhattan Dan worked a sharp five furlongs in 1:00.63 over the Belmont training track on Thursday.
Manhattan Dan, trained by Gary Contessa, is being pointed to a turf sprint at the Royal Ascot meet in England in June. He is likely to run in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup going six furlongs against 3-year-olds on June 17 but is also nominated to the King’s Stand Stakes going five furlongs against older horses on June 14.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Adventist, who still remains on the outside looking in as far as the Kentucky Derby is concerned, worked five furlongs in 1:02.37 on Thursday over the Belmont Park training track.
Adventist, third in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, sits 22nd on the Kentucky Derby points list and would need two defections between now and Wednesday – entry day – to get into the Derby field, which is limited to 20 starters. He could be entered as an also-eligible but would need sufficient scratches by 9 a.m. Friday to get into the race.
ELMONT, N.Y. – If Tonalist didn’t get up to win the Grade 1 Cigar Mile last November at Aqueduct, trainer Christophe Clement was going to win the race anyway.
Red Vine found trouble a couple of times in the stretch but rallied to finish second, beaten just a neck by his more heralded and accomplished stablemate.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Even the greatest of training careers has its low moments.
Six months ago, Tom Amoss was fresh from a 45-day suspension that he had fought with every ounce of energy (and dollar) he could muster. He wound up traveling to Europe, Mexico, and Florida, and he attended a lot of football games in his native Louisiana, but it was a vacation he did not accept willingly.
Trojan Nation, a surprise second at 81-1 in the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9, worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 at Santa Anita on Thursday in preparation for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Trained by Paddy Gallagher, Trojan Nation is a maiden after six races and will be a longshot in the Kentucky Derby. On Thursday, Trojan Nation worked alone.
“He seemed to do it the right way,” Gallagher said. “He seems quite happy.”
Deshawn Parker is on the verge of riding his 5,000th career winner, which in itself is not all that surprising. Parker is the all-time leading rider at Mountaineer Park, has led the nation in wins twice, and has won 200 races or more in 13 of the last 14 years.
What is amazing is that Parker is 5-foot-11 and at age 45 can still tack 116 pounds. When Parker started out in 1988 at Thistledown, even he didn’t think his career would last very long.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Smokey Image, a five-time stakes winner who was seventh in the Santa Anita Derby on April 9, was not entered for Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile California Chrome Stakes at Los Alamitos and is likely to stay in sprints, trainer Carla Gaines said.
Gaines said on Thursday that one possible race for Smokey Image is the $100,000 Laz Barrera Stakes at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on May 14.
Jockey Martin Garcia, an integral part of trainer Bob Baffert's barn and the rider usually entrusted to work his elite horses, will not be in Kentucky for Derby Week and has no scheduled mounts at Los Alamitos on Thursday or Friday, all after taking time off following a falling-out with Baffert in recent days.
Garcia was scheduled to be part of Baffert's team at Churchill Downs on Tuesday when Mor Spirit worked, but did not make the trip. According to Baffert, he has not been in contact with the trainer after saying he needed to do something last weekend.
Lone Star Park puts the spotlight on 2-year-olds Friday night. The first race is a maiden special weight over 4 1/2 furlongs. Sir Papa John figures to start as one of the top choices for the high-percentage team of trainer Karl Broberg and jockey C.J. McMahon. The horse is a son of Oratory and a half-brother to the multiple stakes-placed Cheese Factory.
Jockey Edgar Prado has been named to ride Mobile Bay in the $150,000 Sunland Park Handicap on Sunday. The rider teamed with the horse the last time he ran in New Mexico, winning the $210,000 Zia Park Derby in November.
Mobile Bay, who also won last year’s Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs, is part of a six-horse field for the Sunland Park Handicap. Others set to start include Forest Mouse, who won the local prep, the $75,000 Winsham Lad, and the stakes winners Ol Winedrinker Who and Pain and Misery.
The purse for the Sunland Park Handicap was doubled for 2016.
