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.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The winner of the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic has yet to beat a horse in two starts this year.
Bayern, who was front and center for Eclipse Award consideration as 2014 Horse of the Year and 3-year-old champion male last winter, has become a forgotten participant in the older horse division this summer. When he makes his third start of 2015 in Saturday’s $200,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, his owner, Kaleem Shah, and trainer, Bob Baffert, hope that Bayern can reverse a season of poor results.
Tiz Shea D appeared to have come out of his Saturday night Indiana Derby win in good shape, trainer Bill Mott said, and will be pointed to races on the national “derby” circuit this summer.
Tiz Shea D earned a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure for running 1 1/16 miles over a sloppy Indiana Grand track in 1:43.02. He was 1 1/4 lengths better than Mr. Z, who took a solid lead to the quarter pole before ducking out and briefly impeding pace-stalking Tiz Shea D. Divining Rod finished a head behind Mr. Z in third.
Jockey Justin Stein and agent Neal Wilson have parted ways after a five-year partnership.
“He didn’t have the year he was having last year and there was nothing I could do that was any different,” Wilson said. “I talked to him about it and figured we would make a change for the sake of change and see what that would do.”
Stein will now be represented by Anthony Esposito, who also has the book of Alan Garcia. Wilson, who also represents Jesse Campbell, helped facilitate the transition, Esposito said.
Queen’s Plate winner Shaman Ghost headlines the list of eight nominees for the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown at Fort Erie on July 28, and it appears the field could have anywhere from five to seven runners come entry day on Friday, pending any supplements that could enter.
Trainer Brian Lynch had also nominated Unbridled Juan to the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales, but said he will only be taking Shaman Ghost with him to Fort Erie.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The San Clemente remained on the turf at Del Mar, but two other grass races on Sunday came off the turf, the second straight day that some grass races were taken off the turf owing to heavy rain that resulted in off tracks both Saturday and Sunday. Del Mar officials said more than an inch of rain fell here, which is unusual for the summer.
