HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Cigar Street, who emerged last year as one of the top older horses in America, was injured in a recent workout, which explains his absence from the lineup for the Donn Handicap on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
Co-owner Jake Ballis said this week that Cigar Street injured his left knee in a Jan. 12 workout at Payson Park and is expected to be out for at least several months.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Before another winter storm hit the area late that night, it was a busy Sunday morning of training at Belmont Park that included Classy Class, c breezing for Saturday’s Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
Classy Class, a debut winner who finished fourth in the Grade 2 Remsen, worked a half-mile in 48.70 seconds. He breezed in company with the maiden Madroos, and the pair went off quickly, perhaps prompted by a pair of George Weaver-trained horses who broke off just behind them.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A winter of discontent for most horsemen in New York has been far less so for trainer Gary Gullo, who is enjoying arguably one of the best meets of his career through the first two months of Aqueduct’s winter season.
Through Sunday, Gullo had recorded 12 wins from 36 starters since the inner track opened Dec. 3, placing him third in the standings behind David Jacobson (20 wins) and Linda Rice (16). Gullo’s .333 winning percentage is the highest among trainers with 20 or more starters.
American Pharoah, last year's champion male 2-year-old, had his first work since late October on Monday at Santa Anita, where he went three furlongs in 36.20 seconds with jockey Martin Garcia.
American Pharoah would have been a heavy favorite for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but he was withdrawn the week of the race with what was said to be a foot bruise.
If all goes well, American Pharoah should be ready for his 3-year-old debut by mid-March, around the time of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Wesley Ward sent out a pair of 3-year-olds, Asia and City of Vengeance, to win their career debuts on turf here last weekend. But it was a performance by another 3-year-old in his barn, The Great War, on Saturday night at Turfway Park that has the former rider most excited.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After this, their paths likely will diverge. But with the Donn Handicap being the lone viable option for a while, the 4-year-old WinStar Farm standouts Constitution and Commissioner will race against each other Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
“You normally prefer not to do it like this, and I imagine we’ll keep them separated down the road,” said WinStar president Elliott Walden. “But they’re right there, doing well, and we think it’s a good way for both to start off their years.”
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Festival Preview Day’s top races last Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs produced varied results, from longshots, to disqualifications, to the validation of an up-and-coming young star.
Ocean Knight passed his first test as a 3-year-old with a hard-earned victory over a game Divining Rod in the Grade 3, $201,500 Sam F. Davis Stakes, taking an important step toward the Kentucky Derby.
Tough Sunday, a deaf colt who finished last of seven in the $250,000 California Cup Derby on Jan. 24, has been turned out at owner and breeder Nick Alexander’s farm in Santa Ynez, Calif.
Alexander said on Saturday that Tough Sunday emerged from the California Cup Derby with a cracked shin that will not require surgery.
“It’s not displaced,” Alexander said. “He’ll need 60 to 90 days.”
