OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Sunny Ridge, who made a successful 3-year-old debut in winning the Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 30, will make his next start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes here on March 5, trainer Jason Servis said Monday.
“I kind of thought it might be a little softer than the Wood,” Servis said when asked about choosing the Gotham as opposed to waiting for the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial on April 9. “We’ll go from there.”
A majority interest in Riker, who won the Grey Stakes at Woodbine last year and is expected to win the Sovereign Award as Canada’s top 2-year-old male of 2015, has been purchased by Team Valor International and owner Gary Barber, Team Valor announced on Monday.
Riker will be transferred to trainer Mark Casse. He had been trained by Nick Gonzalez.
According to Team Valor, current owners Carlo and Lou Tucci will retain a 25 percent interest in Riker.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Smokey Image had his first work since winning the Jan. 30 California Cup Derby – and his first in preparation for next month’s San Felipe Stakes – when he worked a half-mile in 47.20 seconds Monday morning at Santa Anita under jockey Victor Espinoza.
The work was a bit faster than planned by trainer Carla Gaines, owing to the Gary Mandella-trained unraced maiden Heartifix beginning a three-furlong work when Smokey Image was an eighth of a mile into his breeze, but Smokey Image went easily throughout.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – It was a day of nice, round numbers for trainer Robert Smith and jockey Jose Ferrer on Sunday at Tampa Bay Downs, where the pair teamed up to win the fifth race with Rocket Bottle, who scored by one length in a $16,000 maiden-claiming sprint. The victory came on Smith’s 50th birthday and marked the 4,000th victory for Ferrer.
Ferrer scored two consecutive victories Sunday, having also taken the fourth race, a $20,000 claiming route, aboard Dance N Denae for trainer Dennis Ward.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – The highlight of Wednesday’s 10-race card at Tampa Bay Downs is the ninth race, a first-level, optional $75,000 claimer going one mile on turf and offering a purse of $23,000. The race attracted a full field of 10 3-year-old fillies, plus three also-eligibles and one runner entered for the main track only.
Enjoy Yourself, a British-bred Sir Percy filly trained by John Terranova, likely will be favored in her 2016 debut after finishing third to Ava’s Kitten in the $100,000 Chelsey Flower Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 31. She’ll be ridden by Antonio Gallardo.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Tepin looked every bit like the champion she is last Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, scooting away from the field to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Endeavour Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths under Julien Leparoux. It was the first start for the 5-year-old Bernstein mare since she beat males in the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Oct. 31 to cap a 5-for-7 season in which she won four graded stakes and the Eclipse Award as North America’s top female turf runner.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – In a short span of time, trainer Rusty Arnold got a welcomed reminder that the long and stressful days of thankless work are all worthwhile.
Arnold was at Gulfstream Park on Saturday to send out a 3-year-old colt named Star Hill to a dazzling triumph in a seven-furlong maiden race. And then, less than 90 minutes later, Arnold watched via simulcast as Weep No More represented his stable in winning the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
“Those days always help,” said Arnold, who saddled his first winner more than 40 years ago in July 1975.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will request approval from the California Horse Racing Board on Feb. 25 to conduct a stakes race for Arabians on April 2.
A $100,000 race for older horses on dirt is scheduled as part of a weekend of events in the Los Angeles area for the Arabian racing community. The Darley Awards ceremony, the Arabian equivalent of the Eclipse Awards, is scheduled for April 1 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The Dolby is the site of the Academy Awards.
