Riposte and Tabreed, separated by a neck when second and third behind Irish Mission in the Grade 3 The Very One, top the field for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Orchid Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Gulfstream Park.
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Riposte, a multiple Grade 2 winner last year, was making her first start in eight months in The Very One.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita will conduct video surveillance for 72 hours before the race for all runners in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby and $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks on April 4, the track announced in a brief statement on Wednesday.
This will be the third consecutive year of surveillance in advance of those races. Surveillance will begin on Wednesday, April 1, the day entries are taken for both Grade 1 races.
Raceday surveillance is commonplace for approximately six hours in advance of major stakes here.
Twilight Eclipse did not follow Main Sequence to Dubai for Saturday’s Sheema Classic, so his path to the winner’s circle became that much easier for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Pan American Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Gulfstream Park.
Twilight Eclipse has lost seven straight races since winning the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida here in February 2014. In his last five races, Twilight Eclipse has been defeated by Main Sequence by a combined four lengths.
Coffee Clique, not seen since winning the Grade 1 Just a Game at Belmont Park last June, makes her return to the races in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Honey Fox Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Brian Lynch said Coffee Clique was experiencing bone remodeling last summer and was given the remainder of the year off. Had she required surgery, Lynch said, Coffee Clique would have been retired.
Jockey Drayden Van Dyke will ride Include Betty in the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park on April 4, according to his agent, Sarah Wolfe.
Trained by Tom Proctor, Include Betty won the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 31 and was fifth in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at that track March 7.
Leading jockey Rafael Bejarano has been granted an appeal of a three-day suspension for careless riding last weekend at Santa Anita, according to his agent, Joe Ferrer.
Bejarano was cited for his ride aboard Jazzy Josh in the Pasadena Stakes last Saturday. Jazzy Josh, who was near the front early, finished eighth. Bejarano was cited for failing to maintain a straight course through the stretch and causing interference. Turning into the stretch, Jazzy Josh drifted slightly to the inside. The stewards did not conduct an inquiry, and no rider lodged an objection.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Devine Aida seemed destined for graded stakes on turf. Then the skies opened up, and heavy rain forced the Feb. 28 Herecomesthebride Stakes from turf to dirt.
When Devine Aida romped to a 6 3/4-length victory in the Herecomesthebride, it opened up further dirt possibilities for the daughter of Unbridled’s Song. On Wednesday, she was supplemented to Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks, one of seven stakes on the undercard of Saturday’s 14-race Florida Derby program.
NEW ORLEANS – I'm a Chatterbox went off at 8-1 when she led all the way to win the Silverbulletday Stakes by eight lengths, and she was a 3-1 favorite when she stormed from behind to win the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra by 2 1/2 lengths.
She'll likely be an odds-on favorite when she breaks from the No. 6 post in an eight-filly field running Saturday in the $400,000, Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks on the Louisiana Derby undercard.
Shared Belief, the dominant older horse in the nation this year, worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 at Golden Gate Fields on Tuesday for a start in Arkansas or West Virginia next month.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said the options are the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap in Arkansas on April 11 or the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia on April 19.
“We’re still thinking,” Hollendorfer said. “I’m not sure what we’ll do.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Ocho Ocho Ocho, the winner of the $1 million Delta Jackpot Stakes in Louisiana last November but eighth in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 7, is likely to run in the $1 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 4.
Trainer Jim Cassidy said on Wednesday that he is “probably leaning toward Keeneland” as opposed to a start in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby the same day. The Blue Grass Stakes and Santa Anita Derby are run at 1 1/8 miles and are key preps for Triple Crown races.
