OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The connections of Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes winner Unified will give their 3-year-old a chance to stretch out in distance, but where and when that will happen is not a question easily answered.
Unified galloped to a three-length victory in Saturday’s $300,000 Bay Shore, a seven-furlong race at Aqueduct, making the colt 2 for 2. On Feb. 21, Unified won a six-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tepin had her final work toward the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes when she breezed a half-mile Sunday at Churchill Downs in 48.40 seconds. “She worked extremely well, and all systems are go,” said trainer Mark Casse.
The Jenny Wiley is one of four stakes to be run here Saturday, along with the Lexington, Ben Ali, and Giant’s Causeway. Entries for Saturday will be drawn Wednesday, with Swipe, the runner-up to Nyquist in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile here last fall, the top name for the Lexington.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Ashland Stakes was supposed to decide which 3-year-old fillies among Cathryn Sophia, Rachel’s Valentina, and Carina Mia would be the top challengers to Songbird when the 142nd Kentucky Oaks is run May 6 at Churchill Downs.
But as the Ashland went deep in the stretch Saturday at Keeneland, that aspect of the Oaks suddenly got fuzzier, not clearer. Weep No More swept past that tiring trio in the final yards to post a 30-1 stunner, and now fans are left to wonder just how low the Oaks odds on Songbird will go.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita finished its 63-day winter-spring meeting Sunday with a gain in attendance and declines in ontrack and all-sources handle.
Nate Newby, the track’s vice president of marketing, said attendance rose 8 percent at the meeting. All-sources handle, which includes simulcasting venues and account wagering, was down 1 percent, while ontrack handle fell 3 percent.
The track did not release extensive business figures after Sunday’s program.
As the sun rose Monday morning, Kentucky Derby favorite Nyquist was allowed to gallop for the first time in more than a week.
"I let him go and I said, 'Have fun out there,'" said Jack Sisterson, assistant to trainer Doug O'Neill. "And he did."
With exercise rider Jonny Garcia aboard, Nyquist jogged a lap and galloped a lap of Keeneland's main track. It was his first gallop since winning the Florida Derby on April 2 to remain unbeaten in seven career starts.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Pacific Heat and Tough It Out, winners of California-bred stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, are likely to stay in the comfort of the statebred 3-year-old division for their next starts, their trainers said on Sunday.
Peter Eurton said Pacific Heat, who won her third stakes in the $200,345 Evening Jewel Stakes for fillies, will be pointed for the $200,000 Melair Stakes for Cal-bred 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on May 28.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The warm reception that greeted Songbird when she returned to the winner’s circle after Saturday’s $400,345 Santa Anita Oaks caught the attention of Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
“I noticed that,” Hollendorfer said on Sunday morning, breaking into a grin.
Lately, Hollendorfer has had plenty of reasons to smile about Songbird, the undefeated champion 2-year-old filly of 2015. Her win in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks solidifies her status as the favorite for the $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 6.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Outwork, the Wood Memorial winner, and Shagaf, the Wood favorite who finished a troubled fifth in the race, both emerged from their efforts in good order and will make their next starts in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Wood Memorial runner-up Trojan Nation, who remains a maiden, is “for sure” under consideration for the Run for the Roses, trainer Paddy Gallagher said Sunday morning, while the connections of Adventist, the Wood third-place finisher, will likely need some help to get into the race.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Exaggerator and Mor Spirit, the one-two finishers in the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, both came out of the race well and both will head to the Kentucky Derby on May 7, their trainers reported on Sunday morning.
Exaggerator rolled to a 6 1/2-length victory while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 103, the fastest two-turn fig in a Derby prep this year.
His trainer, Keith Desormeaux, said he was “great” on Sunday morning.
The unbeaten champion Nyquist returned to the track for the first time since his Florida Derby win on Saturday morning at Keeneland, jogging twice around the main track accompanied by a stable pony.
Due to an elevated white blood cell count earlier in the week, this was the first time Nyquist had been allowed to do more than walk in a week – and thus, he was understandably energetic.
