Decked Out, the winner of the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on turf last Saturday, will be part of trainer Keith Desormeaux’s traveling team to Kentucky next month.
Desormeaux has selected the $150,000 Edgewood Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Churchill Downs on May 6 for Decked Out’s next start. The following day, the Desormeaux-trained Exaggerator will start in the Kentucky Derby on the strength of his win in the Santa Anita Derby last Saturday.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Enola Gray, who scored a smashing win in a maiden race for California-breds by 16 1/4 lengths in her debut at Santa Anita last Sunday, will be campaigned conservatively in the coming months.
Trainer Phil D’Amato said on Wednesday that a long-range goal for Enola Gray is the $150,000 Fleet Treat Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at Del Mar on July 22.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The long and extremely successful tenure for Stanley Gold as trainer for Fred Brei’s Jacks or Better Farm is over. Gold, in a simple statement on Tuesday, said: “I no longer train horses for Jacks or Better Farm. I wish them the best of luck in the future and I look forward to rebuilding my racing stable.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Luis Quinonez has been something of a late bloomer in his line of work. He did not begin race riding until the age of 23, and he could have his first Kentucky Derby starter this year at the age of 49.
“It doesn’t matter as long as it happens,” said Quinonez.
BENSALEM, Pa. – Monday was the fourth consecutive day that there hadn't been a confirmed case of the equine herpesvirus at Parx Racing. If no other horses test positive, the current quarantine will end May 5.
Since April 1, four horses have tested positive for the equine herpesvirus. They have all either died from the disease or been euthanized because of their degree of illness. Two of the horses were trained by Michael Aro and the other two by Ron Dandy, who are both stabled in Barn 30.
Dandy on Monday said the virus hit his horses hard.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Effinex, the 121-pound highweight for the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday, touched down in Little Rock, Ark., on Monday morning, according to a track official. The airport is about an hour’s van ride from Oaklawn.
The field for the Oaklawn Handicap will be drawn Wednesday, and the race is scheduled as the ninth race Saturday.
The champion Untapable on Sunday put in her final breeze for the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap, to be run on Friday. Trainer Steve Asmussen said she is to be ridden by Florent Geroux.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Terra Promessa won her fourth straight race Saturday here in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy, with her stablemate Taxable in second. Both came out of the race in “great shape,” trainer Steve Asmussen said Sunday.
Asmussen said both fillies were to ship Monday to Churchill Downs. Terra Promessa is likely to run next in the Kentucky Oaks on May 6, he said, while Taxable is possible for the Oaks, with her status to be determined by her training and discussions with owner Winchell Thoroughbreds.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Subtle Indian, who won the Grade 3, $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on Sunday at Oaklawn, will soon be joining trainer Robertino Diodoro’s division at Santa Anita. Diodoro said Monday the horse was to fly to Southern California on Tuesday.
Subtle Indian has been based at Oaklawn, where he won his fourth straight race at the meet in the Count Fleet. He covered six furlongs in 1:08.80 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 102.
“The horse came back unbelievable this morning,” Diodoro said Monday. “He knows he won.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Dale Romans threw some fighting words into the Arkansas Derby mix on Monday when he confirmed the front-running Unbridled Outlaw for the Grade 1, $1 million race Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
“Cupid’s arrow will not be able to reach him,” said Romans.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The good news is that Lewis Bay won Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle and came out of the race well. The bad news is that that win earns her a shot in the $1 million Kentucky Oaks, where she will have to take on the undefeated Songbird, who may just be the best 3-year-old of either gender.
“It’s a tall order, but it’s a horse race, and it’s a big purse, and it’s a prestigious race,” trainer Chad Brown said Sunday. “If Lewis Bay’s healthy, she’ll give it a try.”
