OLDSMAR, Fla. – When Roma’s Sister rallied inside through the late stages of Sunday’s opener to upset the heavily favored Fiesta Rose, the win was emblematic of trainer Gerald Bennett’s approach to life and training horses.
“I hate to lose, and I love to upset the status quo,” Bennett quipped not long ago.
Janelle Campbell seems to know how to light up the board. The young apprentice brought home Lady Lucilla to take the nightcap Saturday for an $85.40 payoff.
It was the fifth win of the meeting for Campbell, and if you had bet $2 on those five winners, you would have pocketed more than $306. Her other winning payoffs were $33.60, $4.80, $77.00, and a whopping $106.00.
Hocaba, the filly with the weird blinker and tons of speed, remained undefeated with an impressive 4 1/2-length victory over a field of 3-year-old fillies in Friday’s five-furlong feature that was moved from the turf to the main track.
Trained by Efren Loza Jr., the Sky Mesa filly races with a large and oddly shaped blinker on the right side, but it doesn’t seem to affect her way of travelling.
Lexie Lou, second to Thegirlinthatsong in Saturday’s Grade 2 La Canada Stakes on dirt, is likely to return to racing on turf in February.
Lexie Lou made the first 16 starts of her career on turf and synthetic tracks before the La Canada in which she was beaten 4 1/4 lengths as the even-money favorite by 6-1 Thegirlinthatsong.
On Sunday, trainer Mark Casse said he would consult with owner Gary Barber about Lexie Lou’s next start and mentioned the $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes over a mile on turf Feb. 16 as a possibility.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Dortmund and Firing Line, first and second in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 20, may meet again in the $150,000 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7.
On Sunday, Bob Baffert, who trains Dortmund, and Simon Callaghan, who trains Firing Line, said the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles was a short-term goal for their Triple Crown prospects.
“The first spot would be the Bob Lewis,” Baffert said of Dortmund’s options. “If I’m happy with the situation, we will run. I don’t make that call until after the last work.”
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Less than nine hours after picking up his record seventh Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer, Todd Pletcher was hard at work Sunday morning at Palm Beach Downs, overseeing a mind-boggling 42 workers from the more than 100 horses he has stabled here.
Included in Sunday’s activities were the filly Angela Renee and the colt Competitive Edge – 3-year-olds who are tuning up for their 2015 debuts – as well as older horses such as Constitution and Protontico, who currently are being aimed at the Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 7.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Upstart, who finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in his 2-year-old finale, now is likely to make his 3-year-old debut Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the Grade 2 Holy Bull.
Earlier this month, trainer Rick Violette said everything would have to go right with Upstart for him to make the Holy Bull, but after watching the New York-bred work six furlongs from the five-eighths pole in “1:12 and change” Sunday at Palm Meadows, he proclaimed him ready to go next weekend.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The behavior of Texas Red before and during a six-furlong workout at Santa Anita on Saturday left trainer Keith Desormeaux encouraged about the start of the 3-year-old’s 2015 season in less than two weeks.
The winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile here Nov. 1, Texas Red worked from the gate in 1:14. The exercise was delayed several minutes while the 3-year-old filly Lady Tapit was vanned off after falling at the end of a workout. Lady Tapit was not seriously injured.
Through the delay, Texas Red remained composed, Desormeaux said.
Trainer Chad Brown had the best year of his career in 2014, highlighted by a trio of Breeders’ Cup wins, achievements that earned him a finalist spot Saturday night for an Eclipse Award as champion trainer along with Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher.
It took her a little while to figure it out, but Eskenformoney is certainly in peak form now. The 3–year-old daughter of Eskendereya cruised to her second straight win here Friday, capturing the eighth race by 3 3/4 lengths under jockey Javier Castellano while going a mile on the main track. Eskenformoney, owned by StarLadies Racing, won her maiden by nearly 10 lengths in her sixth career start here last month.
