ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Joe Talamo has been suspended three days – Thursday through Saturday next week – for causing interference that led to the disqualification of Diablo Caballero from first to third in the ninth race last Monday.
Through Thursday, Talamo was tied for third in the rider standings at the fall meeting with seven wins. Rafael Bejarano was leading all riders with 15 wins.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – He won’t run in the Breeders’ Cup, but Watershed once again suggested he’s a colt with a bright future when easily winning a first-level allowance on Thursday at Keeneland.
“He’s a very nice colt,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said afterward from New York. “I’m not sure what we’ll do next. I’m sure we can find something suitable.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The fourth race Sunday at Keeneland is a $64,000 allowance, but a quick scan of the past performances might have you believing it’s a stakes race. Two of the eight starters, Za Approval and Decisive Moment, have combined to take home more than $2.3 million in purse money.
Probably the best race for Za Approval, now 7, came when he finished second by less than a length behind Wise Dan in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita. The gray gelding has earned $1,354,266 for owner and breeder Charlotte Weber.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Gimme Da Lute, a winner of four consecutive stakes from April to August, will be nominated for the $200,000 Twilight Derby on turf next Saturday but is doubtful for the race due to a lingering foot issue.
On Friday, trainer Bob Baffert said Gimme Da Lute “is training but not working” and has been fitted with a plate on a foot to aid recovery from a foot injury that kept him from a start last month in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing. Baffert said Gimme Da Lute stepped on a nail in a September workout.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Uncle Sigh, who placed in multiple graded stakes last year at 3, has been purchased by a group headed by Adam Wachtel and will be transferred to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
The sale was finalized Friday morning, which necessitated the colt being scratched from a first-level allowance race for New York-breds on Friday’s Belmont Park card.
Uncle Sigh was owned by Chuck McEwen’s Wounded Warrior Stable and trained by Gary Contessa. Earlier this year, McEwen suffered a stroke, and his stable is being dispersed.
ELMONT, N.Y. – The connections of Grade 1 winner Slumber have had a change of heart and probably will run him in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Initially leaning against supplementing to the 1 1/2-mile turf race because of the presence of top European horses Golden Horn and Flintshire, Slumber’s ownership group, led by Michael Dubb, likely will pay the $100,000 supplemental fee to go in the Turf, to be run Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
The final decision will be made after Slumber works this weekend at Belmont Park. Pre-entries have to be made by Monday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A number of important works toward the Breeders’ Cup took place Friday at Keeneland and Churchill Downs, with Tepin and Rachel’s Valentina the biggest names on the work tabs.
Tepin, the standout turf filly who will take on males in the BC Mile, had her first work since her seven-length romp in the Oct. 3 First Lady when breezing a half-mile in 50 seconds under regular rider Julien Leparoux at Churchill. She was one of four early BC workers for trainer Mark Casse.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Nyquist was hurried from the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 7 into the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 26, winning both races to assume the role of leading 2-year-old in California.
The buildup to his next start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Oct. 31 is unfolding at a more tranquil pace. On Friday at Santa Anita, Nyquist had his second workout since the FrontRunner, going five furlongs in 1:01.80.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Gomo will miss the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies due to an ankle chip discovered after a routine gallop several days after she won the Grade 1 Alcibiades. She is scheduled for surgery at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington within the next several days.
