SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There will be some familiar names in the starting gate for Monday’s Grade 1 Hopeful and one not so familiar to local fans – Bullet Gone Astray, who will give trainer Henry Collazo his first stakes opportunity at Saratoga.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Young Brian, a maiden winner who was declared from Monday’s $300,000 Del Mar Futurity because of a sesamoid injury, was scheduled to undergo a bone scan Thursday to determine whether he can race again.
Trainer Phil D’Amato said scans will be reviewed by veterinarians around the country to determine a plan. There is a possibility that Young Brian will be retired to stud, D’Amato said.
“We’re going to evaluate and see if there’s a chance for a comeback,” D’Amato said. “We’ll check with the specialists.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Phil D’Amato is hoping a rider change will reverse the fortunes of Papacoolpapacool when the two-time stakes winner starts Sunday in the $250,000 Del Mar Derby.
D’Amato said Tiago Pereira will ride Papacoolpapacool in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby, replacing Gary Stevens. Stevens is not sitting the race out. He is booked to ride Om, the runner-up in the Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap on Aug. 9.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – One horse conspicuous by her absence when entries were drawn for Saturday’s Grade 1 Spinaway was Off the Tracks, whose connections had been pointing her to the race since her 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Schuylerville on opening day.
Just across the Tennessee state line, the grass is indeed greener on the other side: Purses have reached nearly obscene heights at Kentucky Downs.
Fueled largely by what track officials euphemistically call “historical racing machines,” Kentucky Downs will offer per-day purses projected at more than $1 million at a meet that starts full blast Saturday. Fields will be maxed out and wagering will be spirited throughout the five-day meet, as evidenced by the 130 horses on the 10-race Saturday card.
Gulfstream Park will offer a stakes program worth a record $11.61 million in purses during the 2015-16 championship meet, which begins Dec. 5.
The $1 million Florida Derby will again highlight the schedule and is the marquee event on the April 2 card, which includes eight stakes with purses totaling $2.4 million.
DEL MAR, Calif. – With the belief that American Pharoah “deserves the chance to be in the sport’s premier year-end event,” his owner and breeder, Ahmed Zayat, confirmed Thursday that American Pharoah would remain in training and point to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, mirroring the comments trainer Bob Baffert made 48 hours earlier.
While Baffert came around sooner that Zayat, the final call was, ultimately, up to Zayat, who in the immediate aftermath of American Pharoah’s loss in the Travers Stakes last Saturday at Saratoga said he was leaning “60-40” toward retirement.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After winning a Grade 3 and a Grade 2 stakes already this year, Effinex gets his first opportunity to win a Grade 1 when he runs in Saturday’s $600,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.
Effinex, a New York-bred son of Mineshaft, was one of eight horses entered for the Woodward, which goes as race 10 on a 12-race card at the Spa. First post Saturday and for the entire Labor Day weekend is 12:30 p.m. Eastern.
Steven J. Pini, the longtime track superintendent at Suffolk Downs and the 2009 recipient of the Sam McCracken Memorial Award for lifetime contributions to New England racing, died Sept. 1 after suffering a sudden heart attack. He was 63.
Pini had been overseeing the main track and turf course preparations as the track readies to reopen for training on Friday and 13 live races on Saturday.
Sheer Drama is settled back in at her Gulfstream Park base after winning last weekend’s Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga, and the plan is for her to train locally up to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, trainer David Fawkes said Wednesday.
Sheer Drama shipped home Sunday and was scheduled to return to the track Thursday. She now has paired up Grade 1 wins, the Personal Ensign score last Saturday coming as an encore to her Delaware Handicap win July 18. Fawkes said Sheer Drama’s schedule up to the Breeders’ Cup will be the same as it was for the Personal Ensign.
