Wildcat Red, who finished third to Bayern and Albano in last year’s Haskell, is on the grounds at Monmouth Park and pointing to the $100,000 Teddy Drone on the Haskell undercard Aug. 2.
Wildcat Red won 3 of 10 starts last year and earned $848,600. He was given time off after injuring his right hind leg in the Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream Park in January. He returned to the races in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint on July 5, finishing third behind Favorite Tale and Work All Week.
How does a lifelong racetracker measure time? Well, McLean Robertson, the leading trainer at Delaware Park, describes his life this way:
◗ “Ten years at Penn National.”
◗ “Ten years in Nebraska.”
◗ “Ten years in Chicago working for my dad.”
◗ “And, 10 years training on my own.”
Robertson, 41, is the son of trainer Hugh Robertson, not a household name, but a highly respected Midwest horsemen, who may be best known for running $1.5 million out of the Illinois-bred Polar Expedition between 1993 and 2000.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Catch a Flight is shortening up. Bayern and Sahara Sky are stretching out. Those three, plus the likes of Hoppertunity, make the Grade 2, $200,000 San Diego Handicap on Saturday a compelling race, even more so considering it is the local prep for the biggest race of the meet, the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 22.
The San Diego, at 1 1/16 miles, sees Bayern, the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, try to reverse his poor form in two prior starts this year, both around one turn.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tencendur, runner-up to Mr. Z in the Ohio Derby and to Frosted in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, is out for the year after suffering a fractured sesamoid in his left foreleg, his owner, Phil Birsh, said Tuesday afternoon.
Tencendur, a New York-bred son of Warrior’s Reward trained by George Weaver, was pointing to the Grade 2 Jim Dandy here on Aug. 1.
Birsh said it took three X-rays to find the injury, so he thinks it is minor enough that Tencendur could come back and race again next year.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The fastest guns in the West are set for a shootout Sunday at Del Mar, where Masochistic, Distinctiv Passion, and Kobe’s Back are scheduled to compete in the Grade 1, $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes.
The six-furlong Crosby, named for Del Mar’s co-founder, offers a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint through the Win and You’re In program.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Lea, beaten a neck by Noble Bird in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster, worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 on Tuesday over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Whitney Stakes on Aug. 8.
Starting two lengths behind a stablemate, Lea went his first furlong in 13 seconds, drew alongside the workmate after three furlongs in 37.20 seconds, and they came to the wire together with a last quarter in 24.20.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Mr. Z, who has competed in 13 consecutive two-turn stakes, will be turned back in distance and be pointed to the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga at seven furlongs Aug. 29, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Tuesday.
Mr. Z hasn’t raced around one turn since last summer at Saratoga, where he finished second in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special at 6 1/2 furlongs, which followed a second-place finish in the Sanford Stakes at six furlongs. He won his career debut at six furlongs at Churchill Downs.
Santa Anita will offer a reduced schedule of 21 stakes at its 19-day autumn meeting, which runs Sept. 26 to Nov. 1, compared to the 28 stakes in 2014, when the 25-day season included the Breeders’ Cup races.
The first day of the upcoming season will be the biggest, with five Grade 1 races Sept. 26, all preps for Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland on Oct. 30-31. The stakes are all part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering fees-paid berths to Breeders’ Cup races for eligible horses.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – It looked like a standout performance, Midnight Cello’s romp Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Hanshin Cup, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 105 it produced validated what the eyes suggested. The winning time was 1:34.83 for a one-turn Polytrack mile.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – A year later than originally intended, Quiet Force is headed to the Arlington Million.
Quiet Force came out of his win in the Arlington Handicap on July 11 in good shape and is on track to start in the Million here Aug. 15, trainer Mike Maker said. Based at the Churchill Downs Training Center, Quiet Force will work on dirt while preparing for his Grade 1 debut in the Million.
