ARCADIA, Calif. – California Chrome will have a busy second half of January after Saturday’s $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita.
Trainer Art Sherman said this week that California Chrome is scheduled to leave for Dubai on Jan. 21 to begin preparations for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 26.
California Chrome, 5, will have a different calendar in the next few months than he did last year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine will commemorate the 43 horses that perished in a barn fire last Monday during Thursday night’s Standardbred card.
The horses were housed at Classy Lane Stables, a Standardbred training center that is located about an hour west of Toronto, near Guelph, Ontario.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Baublette, an impressive entry-level allowance winner in her 3-year-old finale last fall at Aqueduct, makes the jump to the next level when she faces eight rivals in Friday’s $46,000 allowance feature at 6 1/2 furlongs over the main track.
Baublette, the younger sister of the stakes-placed Royal Story, earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure for her 5 3/4-length victory at 6 1/2 furlongs on Nov. 19. The daughter of Unbridled’s Song is trained by Shug McGaughey.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dirt or grass? Donn Handicap or Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap? Those are the questions trainer Todd Pletcher is hoping to get answered here Saturday when he sends out Mshawish against a strong field in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope.
The Grade 1 winner Dads Caps, unraced since a third-place finish in the Grade 2 True North on Belmont Stakes Day, is expected to return to the races in the Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 17, trainer Rudy Rodriguez said Wednesday.
If so, he could run into a familiar nemesis in Salutos Amigos, who defeated Dads Caps in the Toboggan and two other inner-track stakes last winter. Trainer David Jacobson said Wednesday that he is considering flying Salutos Amigos back to New York from California for the Toboggan.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – On the same morning that La Verdad was named an Eclipse Award finalist for her accomplishments in 2015, she was entered to race in what is expected to be an abbreviated 2016 campaign.
La Verdad, a finalist for champion female sprinter, was supplemented to and entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct. Provided she runs well there, La Verdad most likely will be pointed to the $300,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park on Feb. 13.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mokat grew up nicely during the Del Mar autumn meeting last year. The filly beat maidens in her first start on turf and at a mile Oct. 31 and was second to Family Meeting in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at a mile on turf Nov. 28.
Mokat runs in Friday’s seventh race at Santa Anita, an optional claimer at a mile on the main track. She could stay on dirt if she runs well.
Trainer Richard Baltas said he is worried about what the track will be like because of recent rain.
“I wish it wouldn’t be an off track,” Baltas said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – With division leader Nyquist weeks away from a start, trainer Doug O’Neill has ample time in January to run several of his other 3-year-old prospects.
On Saturday at Santa Anita, O’Neill plans to have three starters in the $100,000 Sham Stakes at a mile – Found Money, Sorryaboutnothing, and Semper Fortis. O’Neill is holding Frank Conversation out of the race in favor of the $100,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Jan. 16.
“It’s a good bench behind Nyquist,” O’Neill said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Of the eight projected runners in Saturday’s $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita, Hard Aces is the only Grade 1 winner in Southern California in 2015.
His upset win in the Grade 1, $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in June defined the season for Hard Aces. He later finished sixth in three consecutive Grade 1 races – the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
Paul Espinosa Jr., the new announcer at Charles Town, which begins its 2016 season Thursday, realizes what a great opportunity he is being given. At age 26, this will be his first job as a race-caller.
The hiring of Espinosa also seems like a pretty good deal for Charles Town. Espinosa grew up nearby and has been attending the local races as often as possible since he was about 11. He cares deeply about the track and its people and seems like a perfect fit for the job.
