ARCADIA, Calif. – With the local older fillies and mares lacking a clear-cut leader until two-time champion Beholder gets back to the races, a number of runners from out of state are set to invade Santa Anita for Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Santa Margarita Stakes, the championship race of the meet for the division.
Cassatt, Dame Dorothy, and Frivolous – all stakes winners in their last starts – were expected to head west for the Santa Margarita, to be run at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
This has been a very long winter, just ask Trevor McCarthy.
McCarthy, the leading rider in Maryland, broke his right wrist during the gallop-out following a race at Laurel Park on Dec. 20. He will resume riding Thursday at Gulfstream Park, where he has three mounts.
“The last couple of months have been some of the most boring in my life,” McCarthy said. “I did some nice things. I visited my family in Florida. I went to upstate New York and visited my grandparents, but it’s been hard.”
Trainer Jeff Bonde said that El Camino Real Derby winner Metaboss is set to fly to Kentucky on March 17 for his appearance in the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on March 21.
“We’ll have all our work done before then,” said Bonde, who has given the colt a pair of easy five-furlong works since his El Camino Real victory on Feb. 14. Metaboss went in 1:02.80 on Feb. 26 and 1:00.80 on March 5.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A tight photo for the win in the eighth race Friday at Gulfstream had some fans howling afterward, and who could blame them?
At first glance, it appeared that Palace of Nowhere, a 73-1 shot, had narrowly defeated Stroke Play, the 11-10 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile turf race.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Even if Ami’s Flatter doesn’t make it to the Kentucky Derby, there’s another prestigious race awaiting him.
Second to Carpe Diem last weekend in the Tampa Bay Derby, Ami’s Flatter is an Ontario-bred colt who is eligible for the biggest race in Canada, the Queen’s Plate on July 5. Ami’s Flatter is based at the Palm Meadows training center, a one-hour drive north of Gulfstream Park.
Saturday’s $50,000-added Camilla Urso sprint for older fillies and mares will have a Breeders’ Cup headliner.
Trainer Gary Mandella will use the six-furlong race for Living the Life’s 2015 debut. Living the Life, a 5-year-old Irish-bred mare, ran 10th in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint after winning her first two starts in the United States. She won her debut last Aug. 7 in a Del Mar allowance race and then captured the Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes over a synthetic Tapeta track similar to Golden Gate’s.
Jockey Corey Nakatani has the mount on Take Charge Brandi on Saturday in the Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel at Oaklawn Park, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Tuesday. The champion 2-year-old filly of 2014, Take Charge Brandi will face American Pharoah, the champion 2-year-old male of 2014k.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Big Beast could make his next start in either the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 4 or the Grade 3, $300,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn on April 9, trainer Tony Dutrow said Monday.
The Big Beast, who is stabled at Oaklawn, won his 4-year-old debut at the track March 1. Dutrow said he emerged from the allowance sprint in good order. The Big Beast, who was making his first start since capturing the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga in August, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Take Charge Brandi, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2014, and Far Right, winner of the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest Stakes, led a group of notable 3-year-olds who worked Monday at Oaklawn.
Take Charge Brandi had her final prep for the Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel Stakes on Saturday. She will meet American Pharoah, the champion 2-year-old colt of 2014 who is scheduled to fly from his Southern California base to Oaklawn on Wednesday, according to trainer Bob Baffert.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Although Honor Code received a career best 108 Beyer Speed Figure for his performance in the Gulfstream Park Handicap, it was not the fastest performance on Saturday’s card. That honor went to Ready for Rye, who received a 109 for his easy victory over the odds-on Daredevil in the seven-furlong Swale.
Trainer Tom Albertrani said Monday that the seven-furlong Bay Shore at Aqueduct on April 4 is the most logical next race for Ready for Rye.
