DEL MAR, Calif. – Beholder, the winner of the $1 million Pacific Classic against males Aug. 22, was on the track before dawn Friday at Del Mar for light exercise.
Trainer Richard Mandella said Beholder was ponied at 4:45 a.m., her first day of racetrack activity since the Pacific Classic. Beholder is scheduled to resume galloping Sunday and make her next start in the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes against fillies and mares Sept. 26 at Santa Anita.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The eastern wall of the backstretch racing office was being repaired this week after a car crashed into it.
That side of the small building is adjacent to a parking lot, and last Sunday, one driver apparently missed the brake pedal and crashed into the wall. The incident was quite the surprise to David Jerkens, the Del Mar racing secretary whose office is against that wall and who was at his desk at the time.
“My legs were right there,” he said.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Two-time Woodbine Mile winner Wise Dan heads the list of 31 nominees for this year’s edition of the Grade 1 turf event on Sept. 13.
Wise Dan is scheduled to make his first start in nearly a year in the 19th running of the $1 million fixture. He was sidelined with a non-displaced fracture of his fetlock, which was discovered following a victory in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland last October.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The stewards have forced jockey Javier Castellano to sit out Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga after he elected not to keep a commitment he had made to ride Twilight Eclipse in the race.
Matt Muzikar, who is the agent for Castellano, also gave a call to trainer Todd Pletcher to ride Bowling Green winner Red Rifle in the Sword Dancer. Neither the connections of Red Rifle nor those of Twilight Eclipse would allow Castellano out of his calls on those horses, so instead he will not ride in the race.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With 13 races on Saturday’s card, bettors will not want for wagering opportunities, though there are a few changes from a regular card.
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There will be three pick four wagers on the program, starting in races 2, 8, and 10. The pick four that starts in race 8 and ends with the Travers will have a guaranteed pool of $1 million. The pick six starts on race 6 with a guaranteed pool of $250,000.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Catch a Flight, second or third in three Grade 1 races in Southern California this year, could have an international campaign this fall.
Trainer Richard Mandella said Catch a Flight is under consideration for the $1,643,395 Champions Cup at 1 1/8 miles on a dirt track Dec. 6 at Chukyo Racecourse in Japan.
“We’ll look at that,” Mandella said.
Catch a Flight finished second to stablemate Beholder in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar last Saturday, closing from sixth of 10 to lose by 8 1/4 lengths.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Appealing Tale might be on his way to New York to prep for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 30.
The 5-year-old Appealing Tale won his first stakes in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien at seven furlongs last Saturday at Del Mar, earning a fees-paid berth to the BC Dirt Mile through the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Upsets are in the blood for Smart Transition, who takes on Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Travers Stakes on Saturday.
The colt is the first foal out of Zardana, who edged Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra by three-quarters of a length in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes, the champion’s first start of 2010. With Rachel Alexandra sent off at 1-20, Zardana rewarded her backers with a $21 payout that day as the third choice in a five-horse field.
