HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockey Rajiv Maragh made a triumphant return to the saddle Friday, winning the featured ninth race aboard Sky Blazer with his first mount since severely breaking his right arm when unseated from Wicked Strong during the 2014 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Maragh has two plates and 13 screws holding together his injured arm. He said he will not have the plates or screws removed so that he can avoid additional surgery.
“I’m the Jamaican Iron Man,” Maragh said with a laugh.
Good Deed, a sharp winner in two turf sprints at the Fair Grounds meet, will ship to Gulfstream Park for her next start, the $75,000 Ladies Turf Sprint on the Feb. 21 Fountain of Youth card.
Good Deed, a 6-year-old mare, returned from a layoff to set a 5 1/2-furlong course record of 1:02.31 over fast-playing Fair Grounds grass in a Dec. 10 allowance race. Back in action Jan. 10, she won the Pan Zareta Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths, running right back to the 97 Beyer she had earned in the allowance.
Cinco Charlie will get his stretch-out opportunity in the $100,000 Riley Allison Derby on Jan. 24 at Sunland Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said Friday.
Cinco Charlie, a 3-year-old colt by Indian Charlie, already has made eight starts and has won five of them, including four stakes. He most recently captured the Sugar Bowl Stakes at Fair Grounds, a fast six-furlong race that produced an eye-catching 97 Beyer Speed Figure.
Cinco Charlie has yet to race beyond 6 1/2 furlongs, and the one-mile Riley Allison will be his first start around two turns.
One of the shortest fields Sunday is the featured eighth race, a $28,000, second-level allowance with a $40,000 claiming condition that drew eight fillies sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs on the Polytrack.
Fair Grounds shipper Silver Union looks poised to recapture her top form against easier company at Turfway. She is trained by Mike Maker, the winter-meet leader, and ridden by the meet’s top jockey, Albin Jimenez.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The next-race plans for Promise Me Silver, who ran her record to 5 for 5 in the $100,000 Dixie Belle at Oaklawn on Thursday, are to be determined, trainer Bret Calhoun said Friday. He said at this point, there is at least one question to be debated.
“We have to decide if we want to stretch her out or not,” said Calhoun, who trains Promise Me Silver for Robert and Myrna Luttrell.
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A little more than two weeks into 2015, fields at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky remain deep, though down from peak December levels. The track is averaging 8.8 starters per race, down from 10.1 starters during December, but its average should climb after this week’s racing. Friday and Saturday’s cards drew large fields, and 93 horses, plus five also-eligibles, were entered for Sunday’s nine-race program.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mr. Z and Lucky Player were among nine 3-year-olds entered in the $150,000 Smarty Jones, which was drawn Friday. The one-mile race will be run on a special Monday card at Oaklawn.
Mr. Z was third by a head in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity in his most recent start Dec. 20. Lucky Player won the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs in September. Others entered include Bayerd, the Remington Park horse of the meet for his win in the $255,000 Springboard Mile.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The owners of Arkansas-breds who win open-company races this meet at Oaklawn, excluding stakes, will receive a $2,000 supplement after a measure was passed by the Arkansas Racing Commission on Thursday. The bonus will come from a fund administered by the Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Horsemen’s Association. The measure will be in effect for the 2015 meet at Oaklawn.
“We’re trying to entice people to put horses in with open company to promote Arkansas-breds,” said Deana Echols, executive secretary of the ATBHA.
NEW ORLEANS – No Fault of Mine, who served notice that she might be a Kentucky Oaks candidate with a good second-place finish in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes on Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs, is off the Oaks trail with what trainer Chris Block described as “a little injury.”
No Fault of Mile came out of a recent training session in Ocala, Fla., with a small chip in her knee.
“It was a no-brainer to go ahead and take it out,” Block said Thursday when reached by phone in Florida. “She had the surgery yesterday.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Ride On Curlin had a memorable 3-year-old season last year, placing in four graded stakes, including the Preakness. It appears that his connections have more to look forward to at age 4.
Ride On Curlin was a powerful allowance winner Thursday at Oaklawn Park, where he closed with gusto to win a photo. Ride On Curlin covered six furlongs in 1:10.40 to earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 93 in his first start since finishing off the board in the Belmont Stakes in June.
“He was mowing them down,” said Billy Gowan, who trains Ride On Curlin for Dan Dougherty.
