HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – On paper, the two horses Dale Romans entered Tuesday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby look out of place. But Romans has reason to believe that both could outrun what figure to be long odds.
Romans entered Indianaughty and Jack Tripp against Upstart, Itsaknockout, and Materiality in the Florida Derby, this track’s major prep for the May 2 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
Sunday is the final day of the Laurel Park winter meet, which began Jan. 1. The winter meet immediately followed the fall meet, which ran from Sept. 4 through Dec. 31. Racing returns to Pimlico next Thursday, April 2.
With four days remaining in the Laurel season, jockey Sheldon Russell leads Jevian Toledo 38-36 in the standings. Victor Carrasco is third with 29 wins.
Trevor McCarthy, who swept all three Maryland Jockey Club meets in 2014, only recently resumed riding after breaking a wrist in a December spill. McCarthy is 6 for 25 at Laurel since his return.
Page McKenney just keeps getting better.
Last Saturday, he turned in a strong performance to win the Harrison Johnson Memorial in the mud at Laurel Park by four lengths. The 1 1/8-mile race was basically over at the top of the stretch when he took the lead three wide.
Page McKenney has now won 10 races and $480,000 since trainer Mary Eppler claimed him at Penn National for $16,000 in July 2013.
Last year, it looked as if time was catching up to Russell Road at age 8, but then he jumped up and won the $450,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic at Charles Town for a third time and called it a season.
Russell Road returned to the work tab at Charles Town last week – working not once, but twice – and even trainer James W. Casey is a bit surprised by Russell Road’s enthusiasm. Russell Road breezed three furlongs in 37.40 seconds March 13 and then worked a bullet half-mile in 47.00 on March 19.
NEW ORLEANS – The way International Star won the Lecomte and Risen Star stakes, with determination and professionalism, has veteran jockey Miguel Mena hopeful that he might be sitting on his first legitimate Kentucky Derby contender.
“The Louisiana Derby will be his big test,” said Mena, whose third ride on International Star, trained by Mike Maker, will come Saturday in that $750,000, Grade 2 Kentucky Derby prep at Fair Grounds.
Claim a maiden for $20,000, and the last thing a person can realistically expect is to have a future stakes winner.
Or a future Grade 1 stakes winner. Or a horse good enough to send to Dubai for Saturday’s $2 million Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse.
All of that so-called logic has vanished in the last 20 months for owners Tom Mansor and Brendan Bakir and trainer Richard Baltas. Big Macher, their former maiden claimer, is a Grade 1 winner starting in the Golden Shaheen.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The champion Untapable led a trio of important workers Monday for Steve Asmussen, who enters Wednesday’s card at Oaklawn Park just five victories shy of 7,000 career Thoroughbred training wins in North America.
Untapable and stablemates Tapiture and Bold Conquest prepped for stakes engagements with five-furlong breezes at Oaklawn. The horses each worked by themselves on a sunny morning in the 40s. The track was rated “muddy” by Oaklawn head clocker Jim Hamilton.
Three jockeys were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital on Saturday after being involved in a spill during the fifth race at Tampa Bay Downs.
The incident began when Wild Kiss, who was leading midway on the turn with Keiber Coa aboard, broke down and fell. Iron Maiden and Sylvia Zapico were unable to avoid the stricken horse and fell over that one, as did Track Telling and Ricardo Mejias.
Zapico was diagnosed with a fractured leg, while Coa sustained a broken collarbone and Mejias sustained a wrist injury.
Wild Kiss and Iron Maiden were euthanized on the track.
OLDSMAR, Fla. -- Fortunately for the track photographer, just a portion of the 32-woman syndicate that is Fast Women LLC was on hand when its Minimambo won Saturday’s fifth race, otherwise the picture in the winner’s circle would have needed a Panavision lens.
