Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold is scheduled to have his next start in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing on Sept. 21 instead of the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 1.
Trainer Phil D’Amato said on Wednesday that the $1 million purse of the Pennsylvania Derby is a leading factor in the decision.
“I’d say there is a very good chance we’ll wait for the Pennsylvania Derby,” D’Amato said.
Louie the Sun King could go favored Friday when he makes his first start against older rivals in the featured eighth race at Gulfstream Park.
A field of 10 has signed on for the first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up bred in Florida. It will be run over 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta.
Louie the Sun King has stepped up his game since moving to the synthetic track. He won a $35,000 starter allowance on Tapeta in May, and has come back and run second in two subsequent starts on the surface, on June 28 and July 28.
Saffie Joseph Jr., who is the runaway leader in the trainer standings at Gulfstream with 88 wins through Tuesday, has a pair of recent maiden winners pointing for the first leg of the Florida Sire Stakes.
He said Neoequos will likely make his next start in the $100,000 Dr. Fager division for 2-year-old colts and geldings, while R Morning Brew is probable for the $100,000 Desert Vixen division for 2-year-old fillies. Both races will be run over six furlongs on Sept. 7 at Gulfstream.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Scylla, coming off two graded stakes wins around two turns and a second to Adare Manor in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch on Aug. 3 at Del Mar, was a surprise entrant in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina Handicap.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A better post and the prestige of Saratoga won out over perhaps an easier spot in Charles Town for trainer Derek Ryan, who on Wednesday confirmed that Book’em Danno would run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens.
Book’em Danno, a 3-year-old New Jersey-bred gelding by Bucchero, also was entered in Friday night’s $500,000 Robert Hilton Stakes at Charles Town, where he most likely would have been an odds-on favorite. Both races are at seven furlongs.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When it’s come to Dornoch, trainer Danny Gargan has put himself out there on multiple occasions. His faith in the horse – well before Dornoch ever ran – has been rewarded with what may be his horse of a lifetime.
A horse Gargan almost couldn’t afford to buy due to a lack of commitment from clients, Dornoch could be on the verge of becoming a champion when he bids for his third consecutive Grade 1 stakes victory in Saturday’s $1.25 million Travers at Saratoga.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Kenny McPeek had a plan for Thorpedo Anna’s training session Wednesday morning. Thorpedo Anna was not cooperative.
After drawing the rail for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes and noting that Thorpedo Anna had gotten antsy in the gate and broke poorly before winning the Coaching Club American Oaks here last month, McPeek was going to let Thorpedo Anna gallop out of the starting gate on the Oklahoma training track.
The 2024-25 Gulfstream Park Championship meet will kick off a bit earlier than usual later this season, on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, the opening-day program offering the first of 66 stakes races to be decided during the winter meet, which runs through March 30, 2025.
As always, the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, and the $1 million Florida Derby will highlight the Championship meet and are three of 30 graded stakes on a schedule worth more than $15 million in purses.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Flavien Prat has made all the right moves this summer at Saratoga. He leads all jockeys in stakes wins (11), graded stakes wins (7) and purse-money won ($3.7 million) through the first six weeks of the 40-day meet.
