Rebel’s Romance is scheduled to start in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 2 at Del Mar for the second time after a win in Sunday’s Group 1 Preis Von Europa in Cologne, Germany.
Rebel’s Romance won the 2022 BC Turf at Keeneland, but did not start in the race at Santa Anita last year. Should Rebel’s Romance win the BC Turf later this fall, he would become the first two-time winner in non-consecutive years of a race first run in 1984.
Pat Mahony, who spent 50 years in the racing industry including several decades as the head of the mutuels department of the New York Racing Association, died Thursday at his home in Florida, according to a press release from NYRA. He was 78.
As kind and professional an individual as there was at the racetrack, Mahony followed his grandfather Mort and father, Riggs, into the parimutuel business. The three worked at tracks across the country for more than a century.
Led by the recent stakes winner Gold Phoenix, trainer Phil D’Amato intends to have as many as four runners in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.
Balnikhov, Divin Propos, and Rockemperor are D’Amato’s three other expected runners in the John Henry Turf Championship.
Gold Phoenix won the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 31 for a record third consecutive year, earning a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2. Gold Phoenix was 10th in the 2022 BC Turf at Keeneland and fourth in the race at Santa Anita last year.
Officially, Senor Buscador worked three furlongs in 36.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Friday in advance of a scheduled start in the Grade 1 California Crown on Sept. 28, but there was much more to his morning exercise.
The workout was part of a disrupted trip to the track for Senor Buscador, best known for winning the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia in February.
Anisette, a five-time stakes winner who was a close third in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 7, will have her next start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
Trainer Leonard Powell said on Friday that Anisette will miss the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 5 by design.
“I think we’ll freshen for the Breeders’ Cup,” he said. “She has run well fresh.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Showcase, unbeaten in two starts, including a victory in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, will miss the major races in the 2-year-old division for the fall, trainer Todd Pletcher said.
Pletcher said Showcase has “a non-surgical issue” that has put him out of training. Pletcher said Showcase, a son of Uncle Mo, could be back in training by the end of the year.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown is going to use many upcoming stakes at Aqueduct to prepare his horses for the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar.
Recent Grade 1 winners Chancer McPatrick, Ways and Means, and Raging Sea all will make their next starts at Aqueduct while several 2-year-old turf horses will get the opportunity to earn their way locally to Breeders’ Cup events in November.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Champion jockey Frankie Dettori suffered a dislocated right shoulder as a result of an incident in the starting gate Thursday at Aqueduct.
Dettori, 53, was off his mounts Friday at Aqueduct and his status is day-to-day, according to his agent Ron Anderson, though the prospects of him riding over the weekend seemed remote. Dettori, who was named on six horses on Friday, is named on eight horses at Aqueduct on Saturday. He is also named to ride two stakes at Finger Lakes on Monday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – An upset victory by Miriam’s Fire ($43.20) in Thursday’s last race at Aqueduct resulted in a double pick six carryover of $159,463 into Friday’s card.
There was a carryover of $48,657 entering Thursday’s card after the wager went unhit Sunday. There was $194,396 wagered into the pool. The results through the first five legs of the pick six were rather formful, with the winners paying $10.60, $7.10, $10.80, $7.40, and $6.60.
