BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Fresh off capturing the first Eclipse Award of his career Saturday night, trainer Mark Casse on Monday was gearing up for what he hopes will be a big 2016. He worked Tepin, the champion turf female of 2015, along with another Breeders’ Cup winner, Catch a Glimpse, as well as the 3-year-old Conquest Big E, all part of a busy morning at Palm Meadows.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Danny Velasquez is a trainer on the move.
Recently, Velasquez and his wife Sharon sold their home near Santa Anita and bought one in Carlsbad, Calif., just north of Del Mar. The move will take place in March, and Velasquez said he will spend the next several weeks thinking about his future . He said on Sunday he is considering keeping a few stalls at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in San Diego County, not far from Carlsbad.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Ziconic, a 3-year-old Tapit colt out of 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, is likely to make his career debut before the end of February.
Sunday at Santa Anita, Ziconic worked five furlongs in 1:02.20 under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. Ziconic worked in company with two stablemates.
Trainer John Shirreffs said he has seen steady progress from Ziconic in recent months.
“He’s got to get okayed from the gate and he needs a nice six furlongs and he’ll be ready to run,” Shirreffs said. “It will be within a month, I think.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Street Fancy was pronounced fit for her 3-year-old debut in the $300,000 Las Virgenes Stakes on Feb. 6 after a five-furlong workout in 1:01.80 at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Street Fancy has not raced since winning the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12. Trained by Phil D’Amato, Street Fancy will face a stern test in the Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes at a mile. The race is also a target for Songbird, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2015.
D’Amato said that Street Fancy has thrived since the Starlet, which was run at 1 1/16 miles.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Taris is unlikely to start again until the $500,000 Santa Margarita Stakes on March 19 after winning her first stakes around two turns in Saturday’s Grade 2 La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita.
Trainer Simon Callaghan said the $200,000 Santa Maria Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 13 is a possibility but that the Grade 1 Santa Margarita at 1 1/8 miles has greater appeal because of its prize money and prestige.
“I think we’ll wait for the Grade 1,” Callaghan said. “It’s a long season and we want to pick our spots and concentrate on the Grade 1’s.”
NEW ORLEANS – Twice Tom Amoss passed by Mo Tom’s stall Saturday afternoon and found the colt lying down sleeping.
“I was starting to get worried,” Amoss said.
On Sunday at about 9 a.m., a visitor walked down to stall 17 in Amoss’s barn to feed Mo Tom a peppermint, and there he was again, lying down snoozing. But this time, Mo Tom had every right to catch some rest, having impressively won the Lecomte Stakes early Saturday evening.
Dortmund, unraced since winning the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar in November, worked a half-mile in 47 seconds at Santa Anita on Saturday, the fastest of 47 recorded works at the distance.
The workout was the first for Dortmund since Jan. 3 and leaves open the possibility that the six-time stakes winner can make his 2016 debut in the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt at Santa Anita on Feb. 6.
