Fri, 12/11/2015 - 15:46

Zayas, Gaffalione return to action after injuries

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Edgard Zayas and Tyler Gaffalione, who finished first and third in the jockey standings at the recently concluded Gulfstream Park West meet, returned to action Friday, less than 48 hours after being injured in separate incidents Wednesday.

Zayas was sent to the hospital complaining of a headache after being unseated from his mount, Summer Chant, prior to the fourth race. Gaffalione fell heavily after his mount, Sweet Summer Sweat, stumbled badly leaving the gate in the following event.

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 15:46

Speechify, Singanothersong back for another try in Mr. Prospector

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Speechify and Singanothersong won the last two editions of the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector, and they were among 18 horses nominated to the six-furlong dash here Saturday on a card that also includes the $75,000 Tropical Park Derby and $75,000 Tropical Park Oaks.

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 15:42

Ready Dancer may finally get opportunity on turf

Justin N. Lane
Ready Dancer is expected to make his turf debut on Sunday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Weather permitting – and that has been the big issue here during opening week of the meet – Ready Dancer finally will get the opportunity to run on the turf when he goes postward the likely favorite in Sunday’s $41,000 allowance feature.

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 15:30

Tommy Macho tops six probables for Queens County

Chelsea Durand/NYRA
Tommy Macho will make his next start in the $100,000 Queens County on Dec. 19.

Tommy Macho, the Grade 3 Discovery winner, will likely have five rivals next Saturday at Aqueduct when he runs in the $100,000 Queens County Stakes at 1 1/8 miles.

Expected to face Tommy Macho are Desvelo, Kid Cruz, Perfect Title, and Turco Bravo. Financial Modeling is listed as possible.

Kid Cruz, winner of the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes in 2014, is coming off a second-place finish in the Swatara Stakes at Penn National.

 

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 15:30

Pino will find out if his stock can compete at Aqueduct

Michael Pino is one of the few new faces on the backstretch this winter, and he is hoping to make enough of an impact during the Aqueduct inner-track meet to warrant keeping a string in New York on a year-round basis.

“I’ve said it for years: I want to try it and the winter seemed like a good time to do it,” Pino said Friday at Belmont Park, where he is stabled in Barn 6.

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 15:22

Hernandez could be this winter's hot apprentice

Leslie Martin/Coglianese Photos
Harry Hernandez, 19, winning aboard It's High Time in the Desert Vixen Stakes at Gulfstream Park in August, has moved his tack from Florida to New York.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Winter time is the right time for an apprentice rider with talent to succeed in New York.

So far, it looks like Harry Hernandez fits that bill. Since coming to New York three weeks ago, Hernandez had won six races from 35 mounts entering Friday’s card. Three of those wins have come for David Jacobson, who should compete for leading trainer honors at the meet.

“He’s got a lot more experience than most five-pound bug riders,” Jacobson said. “He really has done a great job. He’s not making too many mistakes.”

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 14:20

Nyquist resumes light training

Barbara D. Livingston
At 9-1, Nyquist was the lowest price of the individual horses in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

Nyquist, the undefeated winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Oct. 31, resumed galloping earlier this week and will have a workout before the end of the month.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said Nyquist is likely to have a light workout “down the stretch” at Santa Anita in the days before Christmas. Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, Nyquist was given a break in November after the BC Juvenile and resumed training earlier this month.

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 14:08

Callaghan intends to take his time with Firing Line

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Simon Callaghan hasn't yet chosen a race for Firing Line to begin his 4-year-old campaign.

Firing Line, second in the Kentucky Derby earlier this year and second in the Los Alamitos Futurity last December, is scheduled to return to trainer Simon Callaghan’s stable at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Callaghan said he intends to take a patient approach to the start of Firing Line’s 4-year-old season in 2016.

“We’re not setting any specific targets,” he said. “We’ll take our time, and when the horse is ready we’ll look for a race.”

Callaghan said the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 12 “will be a touch quick.”

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 14:08

Hollywood Don will try dirt again in Los Alamitos Futurity

Nikki Sherman
Hollywood Don will make his second Grade 1 start on dirt this year in the Los Alamitos Futurity.

CYPRESS, Calif. – A stakes winner on turf, Hollywood Don will switch surfaces and run in his second Grade 1 of the year on dirt in the $300,000 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 19.

From trainer Peter Miller’s perspective, the Los Alamitos Futurity provides an ideal opportunity to see if it’s worth pointing Hollywood Don to dirt stakes for 3-year-olds in 2016.

“We’ll give him a try and see if we can’t turn him into a dirt horse,” Miller said on Friday. “There are no monsters in there as of yet. They could turn out to be. It looks wide open.”

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 13:35

Battaglia preparing for life after announcer's booth

Barbara D. Livingston
Mike Battaglia will call the races live at Churchill Downs from Oct. 26 through Nov. 2 while Larry Collmus is on leave.

Turfway Park fans who heard Jimmy McNerney call the races Friday night will be hearing more of him this winter as longtime announcer Mike Battaglia nears retiring from the booth. Battaglia, who will turn 66 in February, said this week he is “starting to ease out” of his race-calling duties at the northern Kentucky track, where he has been a fixture since 1972.

McNerney, a longtime jockey agent who became the caller at Ellis Park this past summer, will fill in for Battaglia by calling at least one program a week at Turfway, which runs through April 3.