OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jose Lezcano and his long-time agent Jason Beides have parted ways. Lezcano has retained the services of P.J. Campo to represent him.
Campo is the agent for Javier Castellano and Eric Cancel. In New York, agents may only represent two journeyman jockeys at one time. Campo will retain Castellano, who has been sidelined since Aug. 31 due to injury but could return to race-riding on Oct. 18. Cancel is looking for a new agent.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Mike Trombetta is running his best female turf sprinter, Future Is Now, in Sunday’s Grade 2 Franklin Stakes at Keeneland. But Hollywood Walk, the filly he runs in Saturday’s $135,000 Floral Park Stakes for females on turf at Aqueduct, isn’t too bad either.
“Future Is Now has been running against the best horses and doing well with them,” Trombetta said. “They’re not tremendously far off.”
The first three finishers of the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Woodbine last month – And One More Time, Vixen, and Nitrogen - are intended runners in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, trainer Mark Casse said earlier this week.
And One More Time stalked the pace in the Natalma Stakes at a mile on turf and won by a neck over Vixen, who closed from third. Nitrogen set the pace and was beaten three-quarters of a length.
Truly Quality has won two long-distance turf stakes since early September, leaving trainer Jonathan Thomas considering a start in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar on Nov. 29 more than the Breeders’ Cup Turf at the same venue on Nov. 2.
Both races are run at 1 1/2 miles on turf.
Dreamfyre, the winner of two Grade 3 races for 2-year-old fillies in California in 2023, will be offered as a broodmare prospect at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 4.
A 3-year-old filly, Dreamfyre left trainer O.J. Jauregui’s stable at Santa Anita for Kentucky on Tuesday.
LEXINGTON, KY. – Immersive came out of her Friday win in the Grade 1 Alcibiades in good shape, has returned to trainer Brad Cox’s string at Churchill Downs, and will be among the favorites – if not the favorite – in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Who knows if she’s even the leading 2-year-old filly in Cox’s barn?
LEXINGTON, Ky. – East Avenue made several points winning the Breeders’ Futurity on Saturday at Keeneland.
He showed he can go two turns after winning his career debut over six furlongs. He demonstrated that a step up in class, from maiden to Grade 1 competition, did not exceed his capacity, scoring by more than five lengths.
East Avenue ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.17, which announced him as just about the fastest 2-year-old dirt horse to have run in North America this year, his 95 Beyer Speed Figure second only to the 96 Ferocious received winning his debut.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Six graded stakes wins and a couple of runner-up finishes over the last two weekends helped to formulate the contingent of horses trainer Chad Brown will be taking to the 41st Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.
While perhaps smaller than in most years, Brown’s cast of eight – perhaps as many as 10 – will be quite formidable.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Air Force Red, who has not won a stakes since New Year’s Eve in 2022, is under consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at five furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
Trainer Leonard Powell said over the weekend that he is eager to start the 6-year-old Air Force Red in a Breeders’ Cup race and said the Turf Sprint may be the more likely option than the Mile on turf.
“I don’t think he’ll get in the Mile,” Powell said. “The only chance may be the Turf Sprint. If the horse is doing well, we’ll see.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Two months ago, Hang the Moon was at best a moderately successful filly, with two stakes placings in her first nine starts.
Last Saturday at Santa Anita, she won her second consecutive graded stakes in the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes to earn a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
Hang the Moon has thrived in longer races of late, winning the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Sept. 7 at Del Mar, and the longest race of her career in the $201,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf.
