DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Bob Baffert’s already potent team of juvenile winners gained depth on Del Mar’s opening weekend with victories by the first-time starters Casalu and Getaway Car.
Getaway Car, ridden by Juan Hernandez, led throughout a five-furlong maiden race on Saturday, pulling clear to win by 3 1/4 lengths in 57.43 seconds. The time was the fastest of four races at the distance for 2-year-olds on Saturday and Sunday. Getaway Car earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 76.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tapit Trice will be pointed to the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup after his sharp 5 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $404,000 Monmouth Cup at Monmouth Park.
Forced to scratch out of the Alysheba Stakes in May and the Blame Stakes in June – both at Churchill Downs – due to a foot issue, Tapit Trice came into the Monmouth Cup off a 11-month layoff since his third in last year’s Travers Stakes.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The present is good, and the future looks bright for trainer Chad Brown based on how his first 2-year-old runners of the year performed over the weekend. Brown won a pair of maiden races, one on dirt Saturday with Incentive Pay and one on turf Sunday with Virgin Colada.
Incentive Pay, a son of Volatile owned by Seth Klarman, took advantage of a large opening along the rail to rally on through and draw off to a 2 1/2-length victory in a six-furlong dirt race. Incentive Pay covered the distance in 1:12.20 and earned a 68 Beyer Speed Figure.
The connections of the up-and-coming sprinter Subrogate have called an audible and will run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga instead of Sunday’s $150,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel, trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. said Monday.
Duarte had planned to cross-enter Monday for the De Francis, but, after consulting with owner Rich Santulli of Colts Neck Stables, the decision was made to run in the Vanderbilt. He was not entered in the De Francis.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Dylan Davis has gotten his Saratoga meet off a terrific start with eight winners – including two stakes – from 37 mounts, punctuated by a four-win Saturday.
The four wins on Saturday’s card included a victory aboard Pounce in the Grade 3 Lake George Stakes for trainer Mark Casse. Davis, who attended Saratoga High School, had twice previously in his career won three races on a Saratoga card, but never four.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Thanks to Kendrick Carmouche, there will be a pick six carryover of $154,728 into Saturday’s 12-race card.
The Saturday pick six will be conducted on races 7 through 12 and includes the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks where Thorpedo Anna figures to be a prohibitive favorite in a field of five.
The wager went unclaimed Friday in large part because Carmouche rode longshot winners against odds-on favorites in the first and last leg of the pick six.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Ottoman Fleet, a two-time graded stakes winner in the United States this year for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby, returned to the work tab Friday morning. He went a half-mile in 53.63 seconds over the Oklahoma turf course, according to Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch, but went his last quarter in 25.63 seconds and then galloped out extremely well. He is preparing for a start in either the Grade 1 Fourstardave here on Aug. 10 or a stakes at Woodbine.
Laulne, winner of the Angels Flight Stakes for turf sprinters at Santa Anita in April, is in the midst of a month-long break to recover from a splint bone injury.
Trainer Phil D’Amato said on Thursday that Laulne is scheduled to return to his stable at Del Mar in August.
“I had to turn her out,” he said. “She popped a splint. It’s something tiny, but it will cost us 30 days.”
Brickyard Ride, an eight-time stakes winner whose retirement was announced in February, will stand at stud in 2025 at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel, Calif., according to a statement issued on Thursday.
Brickyard Ride will stand for $4,000.
By the prominent California stallion Clubhouse Ride, Brickyard Ride won 13 of 31 starts and earned $925,477, racing from 2019 to January of this year.
Senor Buscador, winner of the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia in February, is scheduled to have his summer debut in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 24.
Trainer Todd Fincher said on Friday that Senor Buscador will not run in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 27, a race the now 6-year-old horse won in 2023.
“We’ll miss the San Diego,” Fincher said. “We’ll aim for the Pat O’Brien. I think I’ve got him on schedule.”
