Victory Avenue, second as the favorite in his career debut, will make his next start in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on March 2, Ramiro Restrepo, who represents part of the colt’s ownership group said Wednesday.
Restrepo, of course, was part-owner of Mage, who won last year’s Kentucky Derby. Victory Avenue, like Mage, is trained by Gustavo Delgado.
Stronghold is prepping for the Kentucky Derby in Mine That Bird fashion.
Well, sort off.
Mine That Bird, who won the 2009 Derby off a fourth-place finish in the Sunland Park Derby, famously vanned from the New Mexico track to Churchill Downs.
Stronghold on Sunday won the Grade 3, $400,000 Sunland Derby - after vanning about 15 hours from his base at Santa Anita.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - C Z Rocket has hung up his racing plates.
The earner of $2.1 million who twice ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint has been retired at the age of 10, according to trainer Peter Miller.
C Z Rocket ran Monday at Oaklawn Park, and finished sixth at 7-2, beaten 5 1/2 lengths in a $62,500 starter allowance. He came into the race off a pair of recent starts in Southern California. C Z Rocket was third in a Santa Anita allowance in January and had won a November allowance at Del Mar.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – My Mane Squeeze likely earned herself a spot in an open-company stakes following her 4 3/4-length victory in Sunday’s $100,000 Maddie May Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies.
The Maddie May was the third straight New York-bred stakes victory for My Mane Squeeze. She earned a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure for Sunday’s performance.
“Thinking Gazelle,” trainer Mike Maker texted Monday, referring to the Grade 3, $200,000 race at 1 1/8 miles scheduled for April 6 at Aqueduct.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Katie Davis had a few items on her bucket list when she decided to follow her father and become a jockey.
One was to win a race at Saratoga. She checked that off the list last summer when she won seven at the Spa, including wins on three consecutive days.
A second wish-list item was riding internationally. Friday, Davis will check that box when she competes in the International Jockey Challenge at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Saudi Arabia. The event is held the night before the $20 million Saudi Cup.
Echo Zulu, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2021, was euthanized Sunday at a Southern California veterinary clinic after sustaining a leg injury in her stall, trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday.
The accident occurred nearly four months after Echo Zulu sustained fractured sesamoids in a workout at Santa Anita. The 5-year-old mare had been recovering at Chino Valley Equine Hospital since the week following the injury.
Asmussen said Echo Zulu on Sunday become cast in her stall and was injured when she tried to rise to her feet.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Queen Goddess won the Grade 1 American Oaks at 1 1/4 miles on dirt at Santa Anita in December 2021 after the race was transferred from turf because of wet conditions.
A four-time stakes winner, Queen Goddess has not raced on dirt in California since the American Oaks, but will return to the surface for the Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares on March 9 at Santa Anita. The 6-year-old mare’s recent exercise on the surface has swayed the decision, trainer Michael McCarthy said over the weekend.
“She’s trained well on the dirt,” McCarthy said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Forbidden Kingdom, winner of three Grade 2 races at Santa Anita in the last two years, will race outside of California for the first time in the Grade 3 Whitmore Stakes on March 16 at Oaklawn Park, trainer Richard Mandella said Sunday.
The $250,000 Whitmore Stakes is run at six furlongs. Forbidden Kingdom has not raced since he won the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf Jan. 30, his first start since late May.
The quarantine of Barn 15 at Belmont Park is due to expire Saturday, two days earlier than previously announced, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the New York Racing Association said Sunday.
The quarantine was originally put in place on Feb. 3 at 3 p.m. after the unraced filly Cute Curls was euthanized after showing acute neurological symptoms of equine herpesvirus. Further tests conducted at Cornell University confirmed a positive test for EHV.
Art Wilson, who chronicled Southern California horse racing since the mid-1980s, died on Sunday of heart failure, his brother Ed told Santa Anita publicity.
Wilson, who lived near Victorville, Calif., was 71.
Wilson wrote for the Southern California News Group, a group of papers and websites that includes the Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register and Pasadena Star-News. Wilson filed a report as recently as last week on the late Toby Keith, and attended Santa Anita races on assignment earlier this month.
