LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Lea, the likely favorite for the Stephen Foster Handicap, arrived Sunday at Churchill Downs on the same air charter that transported Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and already has settled into a routine for Bill Mott assistant Kenny McCarthy.
“He jogged a mile and galloped a mile this morning, just like he did yesterday,” McCarthy said Tuesday. “He had his last breeze for the race before he left Saratoga.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Triple Crown winner American Pharoah probably will return to light training Friday at Churchill Downs as his connections prepare to have him paraded in front of what surely will be a large and jubilant crowd Saturday night during the Stephen Foster Handicap program.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita’s spring-summer meeting has shown a 9 percent increase in attendance over last year, a track official said. There is hope that that figure could rise further before the meeting ends June 28 with the interest created by American Pharoah’s Triple Crown win last Saturday.
Nate Newby, Santa Anita’s marketing director, said on Sunday that the track is planning promotions centering on American Pharoah. An American Pharoah poster giveaway is planned for Saturday. Santa Anita is hoping to parade American Pharoah on June 27, the day of the $500,000 Gold Cup.
Danzatrice lost her left front shoe and grabbed herself during last Saturday’s Grade 1 Acorn but came out of her fourth-place finish in good shape, according to Parx-based trainer Cathal Lynch.
Danzatrice tracked the early pace three wide in the one-mile Acorn, dropped back a bit on the far turn, then rallied to finish fourth.
Trevor McCarthy, who missed most of the winter meet at Laurel Park with a broken wrist, won the Pimlico riding title with 35 wins, one more than Victor Carrasco and two more than Jevian Toledo.
McCarthy won the title despite having fewer Pimlico mounts than Carrasco or Toledo, as he has spent most Saturdays and Sundays at Monmouth Park, where he is second in the standings to Paco Lopez with 13 wins.
Jamie Ness won the Pimlico training title with 25 victories, four more than runner-up Kieron Magee. Hamilton Smith was third in the standings with 13 wins.
Paco Lopez isn’t dominating the Monmouth rider standings like he did a year ago, but he still leads with 16 wins.
Lopez was shut out at Monmouth on Friday and Sunday last week. He was in New York on Belmont Stakes Day, where he had three stakes mounts and won an optional-claiming race for trainer Jorge Navarro.
The hottest rider at Monmouth last weekend was Orlando Bocachica, who went 5 for 16, including riding doubles Friday and Sunday. Bocachica is now tied for fifth in the standings. Last year, he was the fourth-leading rider at Monmouth.
The father-son team of Scott and Ari Herbertson shared Thoroughbred Owners of California Rookies of the Year honors with the 79-year-old Margi Cellucci and college student Justin Nunez.
Scott Herbertson, a former professional poker player from San Ramon, Calif., owns 16 horses: four in Southern California with trainer Michael Pender, three at Golden Gate with John Martin, seven at Golden Gate with Martin’s former assistant Jonathan Wong, and two in the East.
Herbertson owns Pressure Time, who on Feb. 6 gave Wong his first win. Ari Herbertson works in the barn with Wong.
California Chrome’s baby sister Hope’s Love might make her debut Saturday, when there is a 4 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old maiden fillies in the condition book. Hope’s Love had to be scratched from her planned debut May 15 when she became ill.
After she was scratched, trainer Steve Sherman said this would be a likely spot for her. Hope’s Love has had three easy half-mile works since the scratch. She went in 49.40 on May 24, 49.20 from the gate May 31, and 49.20 on June 7.
With a successful Pimlico season under his belt, Sal Sinatra, general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club, is switching his attention back to Laurel Park.
The Pimlico season, which ended last Saturday, was up 9.7 percent in daily average handle to $5.2 million. Sinatra said both ontrack handle and the exported simulcast signal showed increases.
Saturday’s $50,000 Albany Stakes marks the return of the 8-year-old Shudacudawudya from a 2 1/2-year layoff and the continuation of Slycy’s Cinderella story.
Golden Gate Fields concludes its long winter-spring meeting Sunday, and the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton kicks off the Northern California summer-fair season next Thursday.
The Albany will be run at five furlongs on turf. Shudacudawudya won the Albany in 2012 when it was run at six furlongs on the main track. That summer, he also won the Jess Jackson at five furlongs on turf at Santa Rosa.
