Throughout California, April 27 was a rough afternoon for trainer Blaine Wright.
Clovisconnection finished last of 11 in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields, shortly after Prince Abu Dhabi finished sixth of seven in the Kona Gold Stakes at Santa Anita.
Redemption may occur at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton when the two 4-year-old geldings could start in the $150,000 Pleasanton Mile.
Jockey Umberto Rispoli, who won two Grade 1 races on the same program for the first time in his career on Monday, has only one mount at Santa Anita on Saturday, the first day of a three-day suspension for causing interference in a race on May 24.
Rispoli is booked to ride Shiloh’s Mistress in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf. Rispoli is permitted to ride graded stakes during routine suspensions.
Johannes is a four-time stakes winner in one-mile turf races, the latest success occurring in Monday’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita.
His career will change slightly this summer.
On July 28, there is a high likelihood Johannes will start for the first time at 1 1/8 miles on turf in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes, a $250,000 race at Del Mar.
“It should be within his wheelhouse,” trainer Tim Yakteen said of the distance. “Until you try it, you don’t know.”
A second option this summer is the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile, a $300,000 turf race on Aug. 31.
Anisette began her 2024 season with a win in Monday’s Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita.
“Hopefully, we can end the year with one as well,” trainer Leonard Powell said.
Powell and the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners who own Anisette have the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2 as a long-range goal with as few as three races likely in the interim.
Mr Fisk, pulled up on the turn after winning Monday’s Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita, underwent successful surgery on Tuesday to stabilize a condylar fracture, trainer Bob Baffert said on Wednesday.
Baffert said the surgery required the insertion of two stabilizing screws, and that the injury will need four months to heal.
“It went well,” Baffert said. “It was routine. He’s back at the barn. He looks bright.
Book’em Danno, beaten a head by Forever Young in the Group 3 Saudi Derby in February, will make his next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Woody Stephens on June 8 at Saratoga, trainer Derek Ryan said Wednesday.
Book’em Danno shows only two workouts since the Saudi Derby, though he was scheduled to breeze Thursday at Monmouth Park, Ryan said.
“Everything is good,” Ryan said. “If he runs his race, he’ll be tough.”
Though he won’t be going for the Triple Crown, Seize the Grey will be aiming for his third win in five weeks when he runs in the $2 million Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga.
To hear Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas tell it, Seize the Grey has appeared to thrive from the busy schedule that includes wins in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on May 4 at Churchill Downs and the Preakness on May 18 at Pimlico.
ELMONT, N.Y. – White Abarrio, the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, worked a strong half-mile Wednesday morning at Belmont that left his connections feeling quite confident heading into the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 8.
With jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. up, White Abarrio went a half-mile in 47.16 seconds over the training track, galloping out five furlongs in 59.97 and six furlongs in 1:13.62. It was his eighth published work since early April and since he returned from the Middle East, following his 10th-place finish in the Group 1 Saudi Cup.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Nutella Fella and Becky’s Joker were two of the more improbable winners of the 2023 Saratoga racing season. On Tuesday, the pair breezed six furlongs in company in 1:14.42 over the Oklahoma training track in their final serious works in preparation for their 2024 debuts, both of which are scheduled to take place during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival next weekend at Saratoga.
A 2023 Preakness rematch looks to be in the offing as National Treasure and Blazing Sevens are both expected to run in the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap on June 8.
National Treasure won the Pegasus World Cup and finished fourth in the Saudi Cup. Trainer Bob Baffert said he was very happy with the colt’s six-furlong workout in 1:11 at Santa Anita last week.
“It was a good move, a good enough move if he comes back and breezes well this weekend he gets on the plane Sunday,” Baffert said.
