Lexie Lou, the winner of the 2014 Queen’s Plate at Woodbine and a game second to California Chrome in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 29, is scheduled to have her first start of 2015 in the $200,000 La Canada Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 17.
The Grade 2 La Canada Stakes is for 4-year-old fillies, and Casse said the age restriction has significant appeal. Lexie Lou has never raced on dirt. She has won 7 of 16 starts and earned $1,429,714 while racing on turf and a synthetic track.
The New York Racing Association continues to make progress on expanding the Belmont Park barn area, nearly completing the construction of one new barn and expanding several others. The goal is to have 200 additional stalls by May and another 50 by the fall.
Belmont’s barn area expansion is part of $36 million in capital improvements the NYRA has planned in 2015 for its three racetracks - Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Little time passed after Rockinatten’s win in a maiden race at Gulfstream Park West in October before the gelding was on his way to California. The 2-year-old was the subject of a private purchase that could have an immediate payoff in Saturday’s $100,000 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.
The Grade 3 Sham, run over a mile, will be the stakes debut of Rockinatten, now trained by Doug O’Neill.
“I think he’s a big, good-looking guy with a long stride,” O’Neill said Wednesday. “And we’ve got Bejarano.”
It appears that Spring Quality has found his spot. Entered and scratched out of a six-furlong optional-claiming race at Parx in which he would have been favored last Sunday, Spring Quality on Friday will get an extra furlong of ground to work with in a similar first-level optional $35,000 claimer at Laurel Park.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park will open its meet Friday with more Grade 1 winners stabled on the grounds than has been the norm so early in the season. There are at least four such runners calling Hot Springs home for the winter: The Big Beast, Don’t Tell Sophia, Moonshine Mullin, and Take Charge Brandi.
Live racing at Aqueduct Wednesday was canceled due to the cold. It is the first cancellation of the winter meet.
Both Aqueduct and Belmont were to be open for simulcasting.
After about an inch of snow fell here Tuesday, temperatures took a nosedive Wednesday into the low 20s. With winds forecast to be 20 to 30 mph and occasional gusts over 40 mph, wind chills were expected in the single digits.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Oaklawn.
Oaklawn Park, the Hot Springs, Ark., track that has turned out a number of top-class 3-year-olds over the last decade, took entries for its Friday opener Tuesday. It was a frigid morning, with training delayed about 2 1/2 hours until 9:30. However, the forecast that seemed threatening earlier this week has improved, and Oaklawn officials are looking forward to the nine-race card, led by the $100,000 Dixie Belle.
Delaunay started his 8-year-old season the same way he ended his 7-year-old campaign, with an impressive stakes win at Fair Grounds.
Last Saturday, in an off-the-turf edition of the Bonapaw, Delaunay ran down the fast sprinter Heitai over 5 1/2 furlongs to win by a neck. Usually on the lead in his best races, Delaunay chased and chased and finally caught Heitai.
“He was definitely trying hard to catch that horse, and that’s not him,” trainer Tom Amoss said. “He wins his races on the lead.”
Trainer Larry Jones sent out a noteworthy 3-year-old maiden winner at Fair Grounds on Sunday, when Exodus won a six-furlong maiden race by more than eight lengths despite being eased up the final half-furlong. He was timed in 1:10.08, which produced a 91 Beyer Speed Figure.
Exodus, by Medaglia d’Oro and out of the mare Stop Traffic, is owned by Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms. He was third when debuting at Keeneland’s fall meet and then finished a distant third with trouble when heavily favored Nov. 23 at Fair Grounds.
