HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – His triumphant 2015 debut behind him, Main Sequence will now be pointed for his first major goal of the season, the Dubai Sheema Classic on March 28 at Meydan.
Main Sequence couldn’t have been more impressive while making his first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf nearly four months earlier in Saturday’s Grade 2 Mac Diarmida.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Dale Bennett will tell you one of the great joys he derives as a trainer is watching the development of his young runners.
That’s why Bennett had to be pleased with the performances by two of his young up-and-comers this past week at Tampa Bay Downs. On Thursday, Bennett sent out Fancy Man against a group of 3-year-old maiden special weight sprinters, and the son of Wildcat Heir looked very professional dispatching that field, prompting the pace for a half-mile and then drawing off late under Pablo Morales.
There is one stakes at Santa Anita during the upcoming four-day racing week from Thursday through Sunday.
Saturday’s program is highlighted by the $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes, a Grade 3 race at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-old fillies. Light the City and Achiever’s Legacy, second and third in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes at a mile on Jan. 31, lead a field expected to include Enchanting Lady, Glory, Rattatap, and Stellar Wind.
Lord Nelson, winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs on Feb. 1, worked six furlongs in 1:13.40 on Sunday for an expected appearance in the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 7.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Lord Nelson’s time was the sixth-fastest of 13 recorded times at the distance.
The San Felipe is a Grade 2 race at 1 1/16 miles and is a prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles on April 4.
Firing Line, second to Dortmund in the Los Alamitos Futurity in December and the Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7, is being pointed for the $800,000 Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico on March 22, trainer Simon Callaghan said.
Callaghan said on Sunday that Firing Line could run in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 4, but that the timing of the Sunland Park Derby at 1 1/8 miles has greater appeal as a prep for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2.
ARCADIA, Calif.- Bettys Bambino will stay in turf sprints at Santa Anita after winning his fourth consecutive race in Saturday’s $100,750 Sensational Star Stakes for California-breds.
Trainer Peter Eurton has plans to try Bettys Bambino in one-turn turf races at seven furlongs and a mile later this year, but said on Sunday that the gelding’s next race is likely to be the $100,000 San Simeon Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course on April 19.
“That’s probably where we’ll go,” Eurton said. “I don’t think we’ll travel with him yet.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The day after a controversial running of the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, the only certainties were that Itsaknockout was going to return in the Florida Derby, the trainer of Upstart still was smarting over being disqualified, and the trainer of Frosted still was baffled as to how his horse wound up fourth after looking like a winner.
ELMONT, N.Y. – El Kabeir, who is attempting to take New York’s pot-hole-laden road to the Kentucky Derby, squeezed in a half-mile workout Sunday morning at Belmont Park and remains on course for a start March 7 in the Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.
CYPRESS, Calif. – California Chrome worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds Saturday at Los Alamitos, his first workout since a second to Shared Belief in the $590,900 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita and his first workout in the buildup to the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 28.
Typical of his workouts in the last year at Los Alamitos, California Chrome had the track to himself for a few minutes shortly after the 8 a.m. renovation.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Champion Take Charge Brandi had a significant work Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park, as she continues preparations for the track's Grade 3, $150,000 Honeybee on March 7. Take Charge Brandi worked in a three-horse set shortly after Oaklawn opened for training and covered five furlongs on a track rated “good” in 1:00.40.
