OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Saythreehailmary’s will seek her third consecutive stakes victory when she heads a field of six New York-bred fillies and mares entered in Sunday’s $100,000 Biogio’s Rose Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
Saythreehailmary’s, the 121-pound co-highweight, drew post 2. She is coming off wins in the Bay Ridge for New York-breds here in December and the open Ladies Handicap here in January.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Green Gratto may have lost a race, but if you listen to his connections, he hasn’t lost any energy.
That’s why owner and trainer Gaston Grant is taking a serious look at wheeling Green Gratto back in the Grade 3, $250,000 General George Handicap at Laurel Park on Feb. 15.
Green Gratto finished third in the Grade 3 Toboggan last Saturday, setting the pace before being run down by Sassicaia and Mewannarose. Green Gratto was defeated by only three-quarters of a length.
Dolphus, who was scratched at the gate of the Lecomte after acting up and briefly getting loose, returned to action Sunday with a three-quarter-length win in a first-level, two-turn allowance at Fair Grounds. Dolphus closed into a slow pace and beat a seemingly decent Larry Jones-trained colt named Jensen. The race produced a 77 Beyer, but there was no way the final time was going to be fast after a slow half-mile split.
Trainer Dallas Stewart said he plans to train Forever Unbridled straight into the April 15 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park after the improving 4-year-old filly won her second straight Grade 3 race in the $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic last Saturday night at Sam Houston.
Rallying into a modest pace, Forever Unbridled finished with good energy to overtake eventual third-place finisher Cassatt while posting a 1 3/4-length score over runner-up Cali Star. She earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure, but Stewart believes Forever Unbridled still is scratching the surface of her ability.
Da Big Hoss popped a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 103 for his win in last Saturday night’s Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup at Sam Houston Race Park.
“He was very impressive,” said Mike Maker, who trains Da Big Hoss for Skychai Racing. “No complaints.”
Da Big Hoss was a 4 3/4-length winner and set a course record for 1 1/2 miles when he covered the distance on firm ground in 2:28.16. The previous mark, set in 1996, was 2:32.56.
Nickname, the winner of the Grade 1 Frizette, drew the rail for the $100,000 Martha Washington on Saturday at Oaklawn. She is part of an eight-horse field that also includes the undefeated multiple stakes winner My Master Plan.
Nickname, who will be making her first start since a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Keeneland, breezed a half-mile in 50.20 seconds on Tuesday at Oaklawn.
Gordy Florida, who ran a bold second in the $150,000 Smarty Jones last month at Oaklawn, remains on course for the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes after breezing five furlongs in 1:03.20 on Wednesday.
“He worked really good, galloped out awful strong,” said trainer Kenny Smith. “He galloped out six furlongs in 1:16.”
Smith said Gordy Florida has one more scheduled work before the Southwest, which is Feb. 15. Glenn Corbett has the mount on Gordy Florida.
Say you saw a horse with a six-start campaign who raced in four Grade 1 races, a Grade 2, and a Grade 3, winning one of those Grade 1’s and never finishing worse than third. That would be an absolutely fantastic season, but for Untapable, it felt like a bit of a letdown.
In retrospect, perhaps it was presumptuous to assume that Untapable could duplicate her remarkable 3-year-old campaign of 2014, when she won 6 of 7 races, recorded three Beyer Speed Figures greater than 100, and briskly disposed of all comers in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jet Black Magic is back at Delta Downs. She is returning to the site of her most significant victory Saturday night for the $125,000 Starlet.
The Starlet is one of six stakes on the $1 million Louisiana Premier Night program. The card is the second-richest of the meet behind Jackpot Day in November, when Jet Black Magic captured the Grade 3, $400,000 Delta Downs Princess.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – El Deal, undefeated in four starts but unraced since last May 1, returned to the work tab over the weekend, breezing three furlongs in 38 seconds over the Belmont training track.
Trainer Andrew Lakeman said that if El Deal progresses the right way over the next six weeks, he could return in the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool over Aqueduct’s inner track on March 12.
“I don’t know if he would be ready by then, but I would love to go in there,” Lakeman said. “I think it would be a really good comeback race. He’d get in light on the weights, I would think.”
