Haveyougoneaway will attempt to sweep the Oaklawn sprint series for fillies and mares in the $150,000 Carousel next Wednesday. She has won the meet’s $100,000 American Beauty and the $100,000 Spring Fever.
Haveyougoneaway worked for the Carousel on Wednesday for trainer Allen Milligan, going five furlongs in 1:02.20. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.80, according to Oaklawn head clocker Jim Hamilton.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Alan Goldberg isn’t exactly sure what he wants to do with his talented 3-year-old Awesome Speed, so he bought himself more time by entering him in both Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Bay Shore Stakes at seven furlongs at Aqueduct and the $100,000 Federico Tesio at 1 1/8 miles at Laurel.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In addition to having two horses entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial, trainer Chad Brown has a pair of contenders Saturday in the Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Clair de Lune and Lewis Bay drew posts 1 and 2 for the Gazelle, a 1 1/8-mile race that offers a total of 170 qualifying points to the top four finishers toward the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 6.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Salutos Amigos is a gelding, so it won’t help his residual value, but his connections believe he deserves a Grade 1 victory.
“As fast as he is, he definitely deserves to have a Grade 1 under his belt,” said David Jacobson, the trainer and part-owner of Salutos Amigos.
Salutos Amigos will get perhaps his best chance at winning a Grade 1 in Saturday’s $400,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct. He enters the Carter off a 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3 Tom Fool over the inner track March 12, his fifth Grade 3 stakes victory.
STICKNEY, Ill. – It’s fair to say that vast numbers of hot, young prospects have so far not emerged during the eight racing days at Hawthorne’s winter-spring meet, cards mainly populated by lower-end maidens and claimers. But a 3-year-old gelding named Dakota Candy caught the eye while debuting for trainer Joel Berndt on April 1. Breaking from the rail, Dakota Candy made the lead, was headed partway around the turn of the 5 1/2-furlong maiden race, but quickly got back on terms and drew away to win by more than nine lengths, earning a 74 Beyer Speed Figure.
STICKNEY, Ill. – Seeking to level off an overpaid purse account, Hawthorne trimmed purses for races starting April 7. Maiden special weight and allowance-race purses were cut $1,000, while lower-level claimers were cut as little as $200, and the lowest-level purses were left unchanged, according to racing secretary Allen Plever. Hawthorne came into the meet with a significant purse overpayment and is trying to balance the account as much as possible by meet’s end.
STICKNEY, Ill. – Walk through the Hawthorne backstretch on a cold, wet, mucky April morning, and you’ll sadly find shed row after shed row of empty stalls, large outfits that once ran strings of 40 or 50 horses here either not yet back in town from winter quarters or not coming back to town at all. But there in their usual spot are a bunch of Hugh Robertson horses.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The first stakes of the $3.75 million Racing Festival of the South at Oaklawn was drawn on Wednesday, with six 3-year-old fillies set to run in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy. The 1 1/16-mile race will be held Saturday as the first of nine major stakes to be contested over the final week of the meet that ends April 16.
Terra Promessa, the winner of last month’s Grade 3, $200,000 Honeybee at Oaklawn, will break from post 2 as the probable favorite. Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount for trainer Steve Asmussen.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – When Carpe Diem won the $1 million Blue Grass Stakes for Todd Pletcher last year at 2-5, it was the first time in 12 years that the favorite had won the Keeneland showcase.
Pletcher has the 5-2 morning-line choice in Zulu for the 92nd Blue Grass on Saturday, but with a full gate of 14 3-year-olds expected, a win by something other than the favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race would not be a big deal.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There are just enough stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita on Saturday to accommodate trainer Peter Eurton’s goals for Pacific Heat, Sheeza Milky Way, and She’s a Warrior.
She’s a Warrior, a graded-stakes-placed maiden, has the daunting task of facing the undefeated champion Songbird in the $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles. Pacific Heat will start in the $200,000 Evening Jewel Stakes for California-breds at 6 1/2 furlongs, while Sheeza Milky Way will run in the $150,000 Providencia Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
