OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There are two opportunities for 3-year-old fillies to win stakes in their own age group this fall at Aqueduct where they won’t have to face the dominant division leader Thorpedo Anna.
The first of those races is Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. The eight-horse field includes three progeny of the stallion Gun Runner – Gun Song, Life Talk, and Headline Numbers – and a half-sister to Gun Runner named Pretty Ana.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The recent maiden race winner Dr Ruben M was pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, which will be run at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
Dr Ruben M needed four races to beat maidens, doing so in a one-mile race at Santa Anita on Oct. 14.
Owned by the Del Mar Group and trained by Doug O’Neill, Dr Ruben M will be a longshot in the BC Juvenile.
“We’ll give it a try,” O’Neill said on Sunday. “We’ll see how everything shakes out and take a shot.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Accuracy, a 15-length winner of a maiden race at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Saturday, will more than likely resurface in an allowance race in coming months, trainer Michael McCarthy said.
Accuracy earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 108 for her win on Saturday, in 1:42.44. The only filly or mare with a higher speed figure this year on dirt is Thorpedo Anna, who was given a 111 for her second-place finish by a head to Fierceness in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes against 3-year-old males at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 24.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The value of the 3-year-old colt Rothschild may change substantially on Saturday afternoon.
Rothschild, who has won once in seven starts and has placed in three consecutive stakes, is scheduled to start in Saturday’s Grade 2 Twilight Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Locked, away from the races for nearly 50 weeks, returned an impressive winner Saturday at Aqueduct, taking a second-level allowance race by 7 1/2 lengths.
Locked, under John Velazquez, who lost his crop early on in the race, chased the pace-setting Gun It before taking command at the three-sixteenths pole and drawing clear under a vigorous hand ride. Heavily-favored Locked ($2.80) covered seven furlongs in a solid 1:21.02 though it looked early on Saturday’s card that Aqueduct’s main track was quick.
Jockey Luan Machado has been suspended three racing days and fined $2,500 by Kentucky Horse Racing Commission stewards for misjudging the finish line in Wednesday’s eighth race at Keeneland – which utilizes two finish lines – costing his mount, Ultimate Strike, a virtually certain win.
In the ruling, posted to the KHRC website Friday, the board of stewards ruled that Machado’s “error in judgment . . . resulted in the horse not obtaining his best placing.” Machado's suspension is to be served Oct. 27, 30, and 31, the first three days of the Churchill Downs fall meet.
All she needs is a chance.
Sea Runner, who was stakes-placed at Del Mar last month and won a maiden race for 2-year-old fillies on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 4, will be pre-entered on Monday for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, trainer Tim Yakteen said.
By Wednesday, Yakteen and his clients, Joe and Debby McCloskey, will know whether Sea Runner has earned a berth among the 14 probable starters or is on an also-eligible list.
Damon’s Mound, a three-time stakes-winning sprinter who has been away from the races for 10 months, is now with trainer Bill Mott.
Damon’s Mound had his first workout Oct. 12, going three furlongs in 38 seconds over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga.
“I like him, very nice horse, looks great, moving well,” Mott said. “He’s had time off, so he’s a fresh horse coming back. He’s won some nice races.”
Snowyte, a maiden who finished second in the Grade 1 Frizette, worked a half-mile in 49.77 seconds on Friday over the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga. Afterward, trainer Danny Gargan confirmed her for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Snowyte worked in company with Dakota Gold, who is pointing to the $200,000 Mohawk Stakes on Oct. 27 at Aqueduct.
“She worked great, I’m going to run her in the Breeders’ Cup,” Gargan said. “I think it’s worth taking a shot. There’s no standout.”
