The return of turf racing to the Churchill Downs September meet resulted in strong gains in wagering over its 14 live racing days, according to an analysis conducted by Daily Racing Form.
Churchill held 11 turf races during this year’s September meet after carding zero last September, when the track scrapped turf racing after experiencing late-summer problems with the surface. Turf racing resumed during Churchill’s October-November meet last year.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jockey Jose Lezcano, who suffered a broken collarbone in a spill at Saratoga on Aug. 29, will be back in the saddle Friday at Aqueduct. He is named on four horses on Friday’s card and six on Saturday.
Lezcano was injured when Catchy, the horse he was riding in a maiden race at Saratoga, fell past the wire and suffered a catastrophic injury to her left foreleg. Lezcano underwent surgery to have a plate and screws put into his collarbone.
At the time of his injury, Lezcano was tied for 12th in the Saratoga standings with nine wins from 120 mounts.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Crazy Mason, runner-up to Patriot Spirit in last Saturday’s Grade 3 Vosburgh Stakes, will be pointed to the Grade 2 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 6, trainer Gregg Sacco said.
Crazy Mason, perhaps compromised by a modest pace in the Vosburgh, came rallying to finish 1 1/2 lengths behind Patriot Spirit and a half-length in front of race favorite Scotland. There was a timing malfunction, so the half-mile fraction wasn’t originally posted but the Equibase chart now lists the half-mile time at 45.21 seconds after using video technology to re-time the race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Danny Gargan has a contender in the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies in Iron Orchard, a New York-bred who has won both of her starts impressively. She beat statebreds by 5 1/2 lengths going 5 1/2 furlongs on debut and then came back to win the six-furlong Seeking the Ante Stakes by 6 3/4 lengths a month later.
“She’s fast. She’s really fast. Obviously, a mile is going to be a question,” Gargan said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Danny Gargan sent out a couple of good-looking 2-year-old colts to debut victories at Saratoga this summer and, at one time, both were being considered for starts in graded stakes this fall.
But Golden Tornado, whose race has since produced three next-out winners, has been sidelined with bucked shins, so Talkin will carry the banner for Gargan and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes at Aqueduct.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Chaos seemed to be part of Reef Runner’s brief career in California, which consisted of the final Saturday of August at Del Mar and on Saturday at Santa Anita.
Reef Runner, typically based at Gulfstream Park with trainer David Fawkes, was disqualified from first and placed second in the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 30. With the demotion, Reef Runner lost a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 1.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The 22nd, 23rd, and 24th graded stakes wins of 2025 for trainer Bob Baffert occurred at Santa Anita over the weekend with some results that were hard to forecast.
While Cavalieri overcame a troubled start to win Sunday’s Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares as the 7-10 favorite and secure a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 1, wins by Nevada Beach at 8-1 in Saturday’s Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes, and Imagination at 5-1 in Sunday’s Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship were surprises.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After not being hit during the first two cards this week, the pick 6 at Aqueduct will have a two-day carryover of $110,188 entering Saturday’s 12-race program.
The carryover was confirmed after Amazing Athena ($64.18) upset the eighth race, a $35,000 claiming race for fillies and mares on the turf. Gun Song ($11.54), who won race 7 – the Beldame – as the 9/2 third choice, was the second highest price in the sequence.
Journalism, one of the nation’s leading 3-year-olds, worked a half-mile on dirt in 47 seconds on Friday at Santa Anita in advance of the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Trained by Michael McCarthy, Journalism was second behind Fierceness in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles at Del Mar on Aug. 30 in his last start. Friday’s workout was the second for Journalism since that race. Last Saturday, Journalism worked a half-mile in 48.20 seconds.
Kopion, the winner of three graded stakes for female sprinters since December but second in her last two starts, will not race again until the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1, trainer Richard Mandella said on Friday.
Mandella had considered starting Kopion in the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita on Oct. 4. Instead, Mandella will run only Tamara, the winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in 2023 who has not raced since she finished second by a nose in an allowance race at Del Mar last November.
