Wed, 12/17/2014 - 15:45

Delaunay may switch to turf for Bonapaw

Lynn Roberts/Hodges Photography
Delaunay, coming off a career-best 111 Beyer in the Thanksgiving Handicap, may make a rare try on turf in the Bonapaw Stakes.

Delaunay, who brilliantly won the Thanksgiving Handicap in his most recent start, could switch from dirt to turf for his next start, trainer Tom Amoss said this week.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 15:37

American Pharoah set to resume training in January

Shigeki Kikkawa
American Pharoah led throughout Saturday to win the 1 1/16-mile FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

American Pharoah, the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile before being sidelined with an injury, is tack walking and will not return to the track to begin training until Jan. 1, his trainer, Bob Baffert, said Wednesday morning.

Baffert said American Pharoah would begin jogging Jan. 1. He said under the current schedule, American Pharoah “won’t run until March.”

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 15:34

Shared Belief works six furlongs toward Malibu Stakes

Tom Keyser
Shared Belief, fourth in the Breeders' Cup Classic last time out, is expected to shorten to seven furlongs for the Dec. 26 Malibu at Santa Anita.

Shared Belief, who will be favored Dec. 26 in the $300,000 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita, worked six furlongs in 1:15 Tuesday at Golden Gate Fields.

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, was beaten for the first time in his career when he finished a troubled fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 15:02

Daring Kathy skips Tropical Park Oaks

Natalie Fawkes/Coglianese Photos
Daring Kathy will await the Marshua's River on Jan. 10 or the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf a week later.

There certainly was no shortage of interest in Saturday’s two stakes, the Tropical Park Derby and its filly counterpart the Tropical Park Oaks. Both $75,000 races are carded at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

A total of 15 3-year-olds passed the box for the derby, while 23 3-year-old fillies were entered for the Oaks. Conspicuous by her absence from laundry list of Oaks entries was Daring Kathy, a four-time stakes winner who is coming off a wire-to-wire victory against older rivals in the Grade 3 My Charmer Handicap at Gulfstream Park West.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 14:49

Bridgmohan plans to ride at Oaklawn Park

Barbara D. Livingston
Shaun Bridgmohan will be based at Oaklawn Park for the first time this winter.

Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan will be based at Oaklawn Park for the first time in his career when the Hot Springs, Ark., track opens on Jan. 9. The season runs through April 11.

Jay Fedor, the rider’s agent, said there were a couple of reasons to come to Oaklawn.

“A lot of our key clients are coming here, and the purses are so good,” said Fedor.

Bridgmohan is expected to ride for a host of different trainers with local divisions, including Steve Asmussen, Scott Becker, Mark Casse, Wayne Catalano, Brad Cox, Kellyn Gorder, and Steve Hobby.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 14:46

Dom the Bomb inspires confidence with big Illinois Futurity win

Four Footed Fotos
Dom the Bomb and jockey Tim Thornton win the Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity by 5 1/2 lengths Saturday.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Dom the Bomb is an Illinois-bred 2-year-old, but the way he has dominated restricted competition while demonstrating somewhat surprising stamina has led his connections to consider placing the horse in more ambitious spots early next year.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 14:32

No Problem supplemented to Los Alamitos Futurity

Benoit & Associates
No Problem wins the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes on Nov. 15 at Del Mar.

CYPRESS, Calif. – No Problem, the winner of the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar in November, was supplemented to Saturday’s $500,000 Los Alamitos Futurity for $20,000 when entries were taken Wednesday.

The former maiden claimer will be part of a small field in the Grade 1 race over 1 1/16 miles. The Los Alamitos Futurity has a projected field of five, led by the unbeaten Dortmund, who will make his stakes debut, and Mr. Z, who has finished second in four stakes this year. Other entrants are the Del Mar maiden race winners Bench Warrant and Firing Line.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 14:16

Social Inclusion prepares for comeback

Tom Keyser
Social Inclusion, now trained by Chad Brown, is gearing up for his return to racing by training at Palm Meadows.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Social Inclusion, one of the stars of the 2013-14 championship meet at Gulfstream Park, is back in training at Palm Meadows after losing most of the second half of his 3-year-old campaign due to a tendon injury.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 11:36

Buster Rose ends trainer's four-year stakes drought

Leslie Martin/Coglianese Photos
Buster Rose ended his trainer's four-year stakes drought with a victory Dec. 6 in the Canterbury Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Just in time for the holidays, Steve Dunn received a gift that keeps on giving.

Dunn, a trainer since 1991, had his first stakes winner in more than four years when Buster Rose rallied from far back to prevail amid a solid field of turf sprinters in the $110,000 Canterbury Stakes on the Dec. 6 Claiming Crown program at Gulfstream Park in south Florida.

“I’m still getting calls and congratulations,” Dunn, 58, said this week from HighPointe Farm and Training Center in LaGrange, Ky.

“It was very special. The horse really had a big year for us.”

Tue, 12/16/2014 - 14:53

Bayerd, Shotgun Kowboy may get rematch in early 2015

Barbara D. Livingston
Bayerd comes into the Clever Trevor off back-to-back Beyer Speed Figures of 90 and 93.

Bayerd and Shotgun Kowboy, who finished a head apart in a thrilling edition of the $250,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park, have gone in different directions since Sunday’s race, but there is a chance that the pair could meet again next year at 3. Both horses are remaining in the region, according to their trainers.

Springboard Mile winner Bayerd is to be based at Fair Grounds, said Steve Asmussen, while runner-up Shotgun Kowboy is to ship to Oaklawn Park right after Christmas, according to C.R. Trout.