Condo Commando, the multiple graded stakes-winning 2-year-old filly of 2014, drew the outside post in a field of six entered Monday for Saturday’s $100,000 Busher Stakes at Aqueduct.
The 1 1/16-mile race will mark the 3-year-old debut of Condo Commando, who at 2 won the Grade 1 Spinaway and Grade 2 Demoiselle and was voted a finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly. She last raced Nov. 29, winning the Demoiselle by 11 1/2 lengths.
Despite cold weather and snow that forced the cancellation of the Sunday card, Laurel Park had a good weekend from a business perspective.
Monday’s card included three stakes, topped by the Grade 3, $250,000 General George. All-sources handle was more than $2.5 million, up from $1.5 million on Presidents Day last year, according to figures provided by the Stronach Group. The temperature was in the teens for the races Monday, with a wind chill in the single digits. In 2014, the weather was partly sunny and near 60 degrees.
Laurel-based Barbara Fritchie winner Lady Sabelia has won six of her last seven starts for trainer Robin Graham. In her only recent loss, she finished third in the $77,500 Cornucopia Stakes at Parx in October following a layoff of nearly four months.
“I needed another two weeks with her for that race,” Graham said, “but she was fit enough to run, and there aren’t many races out there for her division, so we ran.”
Lady Sabelia went to the lead in the Fritchie and won comfortably by 1 1/2 lengths.
“It just looked like she was just galloping,” Graham said.
The Magna 5 will be returning in the near future with a lower minimum bet and a new name. The Magna 5 will link five races within a one-hour period from Stronach Group tracks.
The Magna 5 debuted in 2004 but has not been held since 2010. This new edition will offer races from Florida, Maryland, and California. Maryland will serve as the wagering hub, according to Sal Sinatra, general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Om, who beat maidens in his second start last summer at 2, is being prepared for a comeback this spring.
Trained by Dan Hendricks, Om is expected to have his first workout of the year this week. He returned to racetrack training in early January, having been trained briefly at a local farm by Julie Adair-Stack.
“He came in looking super, like he never left,” Hendricks said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Imperative and Cool Samurai will be longshots in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 7, the top race for older horses at Santa Anita this year.
Imperative was sixth in the $590,000 San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 7, finishing 9 1/2 lengths behind race winner Shared Belief, the favorite for the Big Cap. Imperative finished 1 1/2 lengths behind third-place finisher Hoppertunity, another candidate for the Big Cap.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mischief Clem, the winner of the $245,000 California Cup Derby last month but seventh in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields last Saturday, is likely to race in the California-bred division in the coming months, trainer Bob Hess Jr. said.
Hess said on Monday that he may consider a Triple Crown prep race for Mischief Clem but said races such as the $200,000 Echo Eddie Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on April 4 have appeal.
“Why not be king of the Cal-breds?” Hess said. “We have a lot of money in Cal-bred races.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A field of just eight 3-year-olds, led by Holy Bull Stakes winner Upstart, was drawn Monday for Saturday’s $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes. The Grade 2, 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth is the last of eight stakes on Saturday’s card, which also features the 2015 debut of the multiple Eclipse Award winner Main Sequence in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida.
There are fewer than 75 days to the Kentucky Derby. Now, things start to get serious.
On Monday, 10 3-year-olds were entered in the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. The Risen Star is a second-tier qualifying race for the Kentucky Derby, offering 85 points distributed on a 50-20-10-5 basis to the top four finishers. Win on Saturday, and you’re in the 20-horse Derby.
