Wed, 09/23/2015 - 11:41

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: Euros figure to make big impact

Barbara D. Livingston
Azar, an 11-1 shot ridden by John Velazquez, wins the Grade 2 With Anticipation Stakes.

At this point of the season, the 2-year-old divisions are very much works in progress. The field for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf is no exception, with the most pressing question just over five weeks out being: Which Europeans will show up?

Of the eight winners of the Juvenile Turf since the race was added to the Breeders’ Cup program in 2007, six made their final prior start outside of North America, including the last four. This includes last year’s winner, Hootenanny, who was based in Kentucky for Wesley Ward but campaigned extensively in Europe as a juvenile.

Tue, 09/22/2015 - 13:35

Stellar Wind could prep over the track for BC Distaff

Benoit & Associates
Stellar Wind, winning the Torrey Pines in her last start, could make her BC Distaff prep in the Spinster at Keeneland.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Stellar Wind’s first start against older fillies and mares will be in Kentucky. The question is – which race?

Stellar Wind is based at Santa Anita, but trainer John Sadler said the 3-year-old filly will skip the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes on Saturday, and run in either the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 4 at Keeneland or train into the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

“I got a little behind the clock,” Sadler said Tuesday. “She got off her feed a little bit, and just a little backed up.”

Tue, 09/22/2015 - 13:29

Big Macher will be fresh for BC Sprint, again

Benoit & Associates
Big Macher will go straight into the BC Sprint off this victory in the Pirate's Bounty Sept. 7 at Del Mar.

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Big Macher will enter the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Sprint the same way he went in last year – as a fresh horse. This time, trainer Richard Baltas hopes he is not eliminated at the break. In the 2014 BC Sprint at Santa Anita, he stumbled at the break, trained for the first half-mile, and finished ninth.

“We’re going to work on that,” Baltas said Tuesday morning at Santa Anita, where Big Macher posted an easy 48-second half-mile workout under jockey Rafael Bejarano.

Tue, 09/22/2015 - 12:56

Jockey takes another's whip in Parx stretch duel

The fourth race at Parx on Monday was a typical $15,000 restricted claiming race until upper stretch, at which point jockey Angel Castillo appeared to lose his whip and then either take or be handed the whip of Pierre Hernandez-Ortega, with whom he was racing in tight quarters.

Castillo went on to hit his mount 16 times with the whip after the incident and was up to finish second in the 1 1/16-mile race. Hernandez-Ortega’s mount, Distant Thoughts, tired to finish sixth.

Mon, 09/21/2015 - 15:01

Tale of Verve among Oklahoma Derby contenders

Barbara D. Livingston
Tale of Verve is likely for Sunday's Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.

The field for the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby was beginning to take shape on Monday, with Tale of Verve and Souper Colossal part of a large group anticipated for the 1 1/8-mile race this Sunday. The Oklahoma Derby is the highlight of the Remington Park meet and will anchor a card of seven stakes worth more than $1 million. Entries for the program will be taken on Thursday.

Mon, 09/21/2015 - 14:25

Palace to put best foot forward in Vosburgh

Michael Amoruso
Palace sustained a foot injury at the start of the John Morrissey on July 30, but trainer Linda Rice says he's fit to go in the Vosburgh on Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – After initially saying she didn’t think Palace could make Saturday’s Grade 1 Vosburgh, trainer Linda Rice has reversed course and now believes her Grade 1-winning sprinter will be ready for the six-furlong stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup.

Palace, who suffered a significant foot injury when he stumbled at the start of the John Morrissey Stakes on July 30, worked five furlongs in 59.85 seconds Sunday over Belmont’s training track.

Mon, 09/21/2015 - 14:10

Curalina targets elders in Beldame

Barbara D. Livingston
The Beldame comes at a good time for Curalina, trainer Todd Pletcher said.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher had several options for Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame Stakes but elected to go with the 3-year-old filly Curalina in the 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares.

Curalina won the Grade 1 Acorn over this track in June and then was elevated to first in the Coaching Club American Oaks after getting bumped by I’m a Chatterbox nearing the wire. Curalina finished third behind Embellish the Lace and I’m a Chatterbox in the Grade 1 Alabama.

Mon, 09/21/2015 - 14:10

Dame Dorothy gets another try

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Dame Dorothy won 7 of her first 9 races, including the Grade 3 Bed o' Roses (above).

ELMONT, N.Y. – Dame Dorothy won seven of her first nine races and hadn’t finished worse than third in her two losses. Sent off as the 7-5 favorite in the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 29 at Saratoga, Dame Dorothy was a no-show, finishing sixth behind Unbridled Forever.

Still not sure what went wrong, trainer Todd Pletcher has decided to forge on with the Bobby Flay-owned 4-year-old filly, and she will run in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap.

Mon, 09/21/2015 - 14:10

Red Rifle striking while he’s hot

Barbara D. Livingston
Red Rifle goes into the Joe Hirsch off this win in the Grade 2 Bowling Green and a second to European star Flintshire in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer.

ELMONT, N.Y. – There will be five graded stakes run at Belmont Park on Saturday, and it’s not far-fetched to think trainer Todd Pletcher could have the first or second choice in all of them.

Already well armed with Rock Fall in the Grade 1, $400,000 Vosburgh and Curalina in the Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame, Pletcher has decided to run Red Rifle in the Grade 1, $600,000 Joe Hirsch and Dame Dorothy in the Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bloom. Pletcher will run Azar and possibly Dissident in the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes.

Mon, 09/21/2015 - 14:06

Songbird among workers for Saturday’s Grade 1 stakes

Benoit & Associates
Songbird will try two turns for the first time in Saturday's Chandelier Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The biggest day of the Santa Anita fall meeting will be the first day. On Saturday, five Grade 1 stakes, all worth $300,000 and all of them Win and You’re In races toward the Breeders’ Cup, will be run on an 11-race, opening-day card. In advance of that blockbuster card, a number of top-class horses had their final works Monday, including the circuit’s top 2-year-old filly, Songbird, who is set for the Chandelier Stakes, which will mark her first try around two turns.