DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Flavien Prat has been suspended three days, Friday through Sunday, for causing interference that led to the disqualification of his mount in the first race last Friday.
Prat, who turned 23 on Tuesday, was cited for his ride on Minster’sadventure, who finished first but was disqualified and placed second for causing interference in the stretch of a starter allowance at a mile on turf.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Micks Miracle, the sharp winner of an optional claimer July 25, will miss an extended period of training due to an ankle injury, trainer Phil D’Amato said.
Micks Miracle won an optional claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs by 7 1/2 lengths for his second win in three starts. D’Amato said last weekend that there is no timetable for Micks Miracle’s return.
“We’re trying to form a game plan,” D’Amato said. “Hopefully, we’ll get him back to the races sometime. He’ll need an operation, but it’s minor.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rajiv Maragh, who suffered serious back injuries when his mount Yourcreditisgood fell during the fifth race July 10 at Belmont Park, was fitted with a back brace after consulting with a specialist in New York on Monday.
“It’s been rough, really rough, since the accident,” said Maragh. “I didn’t have any improvement over the last three weeks, so I went for a second opinion and got a back brace. It’s only the first day, but already I feel a little more comfortable, and I see this as a step forward because it gives me more support for my body.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown entered five horses on Monday for the $200,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes but remained undecided about how many of that group actually will compete in Friday’s Grade 2 turf event for 3-year-olds.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rock Fall, who won Saturday’s Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt by a nose over The Big Beast, likely will skip the Grade 1 Forego here Aug. 29 and instead point to the Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont Park on Sept. 26, trainer Todd Pletcher said.
Rock Fall won his sixth straight race in the Vanderbilt. He is a son of Speightstown, whom Pletcher trained to victories in the Vanderbilt and Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2004 on his way to being named champion sprinter. In between, Speightstown finished third in the Vosburgh.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Some very good horses have failed in the Haskell Invitational before turning back in distance to win the Grade 1 King’s Bishop. And none of them had to face a Triple Crown winner.
Competitive Edge likely will look to add his name to a list that includes Hard Spun, Tale of the Cat, and More than Ready if he, as expected, runs in the King’s Bishop at seven furlongs here Aug. 29.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Stopchargingmaria chased, caught, and beat the champion Untapable in Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee, and they are headed for a rematch in the Grade 1, $750,000 Personal Ensign at Saratoga on Aug. 29.
Stopchargingmaria won for the eighth time in 14 career starts, and trainer Todd Pletcher called the performance “arguably the strongest race of her career.”
Stopchargingmaria earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 95 for the effort.
DEL MAR, Calif. – All-sources average handle is on the rise at Del Mar.
After a slow start to the summer meeting caused by wet weather on opening weekend, July 17-18, the track reported a 1.2 percent rise in average handle through Sunday, the 14th day of the 40-day meeting.
Average handle was $12,561,148 compared with $12,411,493 at the same point in the 2014 summer meeting. The all-sources handle includes simulcasting and account-wagering sources. Simulcasting handle, from California and out of state, has risen 3 percent, while account-wagering handle has risen 11 percent.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – American Pharoah left Monmouth Park on Monday morning bound for his summer home at Del Mar, where he will train for his next start, a decision that trainer Bob Baffert and owner Ahmed Zayat won’t make until they see how he comes out of the race when he returns to the track later this week.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Prospect Park, second by a nose in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4, is set for his turf debut in the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 9 after a five-furlong workout on the surface Sunday.
Prospect Park worked five furlongs in 1:02.80, his second work on turf this summer.
Owned by breeders Marty and Pam Wygod and trained by Clifford Sise, Prospect Park has won 2 of 9 starts and earned $306,570. Earlier this year, he was second in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes and the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita.
