Fri, 02/13/2015 - 15:16

Top Ward trio vans in to train on Polytrack

Barbara D. Livingston
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hootenanny could be headed to Royal Ascot for the Commonwealth Cup next summer, according to trainer Wesley Ward.

Although the Breeders’ Cup is more than eight months away, set for Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland, one would not have guessed it by looking at the Wednesday work tab in Kentucky.

Three top performers from the 2014 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita – BC Juvenile Turf winner Hootenanny, Juvenile Turf runner-up Luck of the Kitten, and Juvenile Fillies runner-up Sunset Glow – breezed Wednesday morning at Turfway Park for trainer Wesley Ward. Hootenanny and Sunset Glow both went a half-mile in 49.80 seconds on Turfway’s Polytrack, and Luck of the Kitten covered the same distance in 50.60.

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 15:12

Paulassilverlining will try two turns in Busher Stakes

Joe Labozzetta
Paulassilverlining, with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, outfights Noble and a Beauty, ridden by Jose Ortiz, to win the Ruthless.

Though all of her success has come sprinting, the multiple stakes winner Paulassilverlining will try two turns for the first time in the $100,000 Busher Stakes next Saturday at Aqueduct.

Paulassilverlining, a daughter of Ghostzapper, has won three of five starts, including the Grade 2 Matron last fall at Belmont and the Ruthless Stakes last month over the inner track. Both races were at six furlongs.

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 14:49

My Fiona will resume training soon

Benoit & Associates
My Fiona, recovering from an injury, is targeting a summer comeback.

My Fiona, the champion 2-year-old California-bred filly of 2014, is nearing a return to training after undergoing surgery to have a bone chip removed from an ankle.

My Fiona was sidelined after winning the Soviet Problem Stakes for 2-year-olds at Los Alamitos in December. Trainer Walther Solis said this week that My Fiona will return to training in March, with the goal of a comeback in the summer.

“We thought this was the best time to do it,” Solis said.

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 14:41

Shared Belief will work three times before Santa Anita Handicap

Shigeki Kikkawa
Shared Belief is expected to work out three times at Golden Gate Fields to prepare for next month's Santa Anita Handicap.

Shared Belief will have three workouts at Golden Gate Fields in the coming weeks before returning to Santa Anita for the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 7.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Friday that Shared Belief emerged from his win in the $590,000 San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 7 in good order and will have a workout at Golden Gate Fields on Wednesday.

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 14:32

La Tia returns in Buena Vista

Benoit & Associates
La Tia will make her first start since November in Monday's one-mile Buena Vista.

La Tia, unraced since winning the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar in November, will be favored to win her third consecutive stakes in Monday’s $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes at a mile for turf females at Santa Anita.

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 14:16

Holy Lute earns shot at Kilroe Mile

Shigeki Kikkawa
Holy Lute will be pointed to the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on March 7.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Holy Lute will have his first start in a Grade 1 race in more than a year in the $400,000 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf at Santa Anita on March 7, a decision reached after the 5-year-old won an optional claimer Thursday.

Holy Lute, trained by Jim Cassidy for Class Racing Stable, won for the first time since August 2013 in the second-level optional $62,500 claimer on the hillside turf course, leading throughout as the 4-5 favorite. He was challenged in early stretch by U S Citizen but drew away under jockey Mike Smith.

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 14:01

Saratoga Snacks returns to form for old barn

Barbara D. Livingston
Saratoga Snacks and jockey Joel Rosario prevail by three-quarters of a length Saturday in the Empire Classic.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In his 35 years training horses, Gary Sciacca has won 853 races, including four Grade 1 stakes, and campaigned a divisional champion. But the victory by Saratoga Snacks in Thursday’s $69,000 New York-bred allowance feature at Aqueduct rivals any of those feats.

“I never had the feeling I had yesterday,” Sciacca said Friday morning. “It’s something totally different. Great story.”

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 13:45

Palace Malice returns to Pletcher barn

Barbara D. Livingston
Palace Malice will be pointed to the one-mile Westchester Stakes on May 2 at Belmont Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Palace Malice, the winner of the 2013 Belmont Stakes and the 2014 Metropolitan Handicap, was scheduled to arrive Friday at Todd Pletcher’s barn at the Palm Beach Downs training center following an overnight van ride from South Carolina.

Palace Malice will be pointed to the one-mile Westchester Stakes on May 2 at Belmont Park, according to a Thursday release from Dogwood Stable, which sold a partial interest in the horse last year to Three Chimneys Farm, where Palace Malice will stand at stud after retiring.

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 13:18

Mizz Money targets LaCombe Memorial

The 3-year-old filly Mizz Money, who led all the way to defeat the favored Divine Dawn by three-quarters of a length in a turf allowance at about 7 1/2 furlongs last Sunday at Fair Grounds, likely will run next in the Allen LaCombe Memorial on March 7, trainer Bernie Flint said.

Mizz Money, who has won two of four starts, is 2 for 2 at the meet. She defeated maidens at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf by 2 1/2 lengths Jan. 19 in her return from a six-month layoff.

“We gave her plenty of time to grow up,” Flint said. “I thought she’d make a good 3-year-old.”

Fri, 02/13/2015 - 13:14

Hard Aces joining Sadler’s barn

Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography
Hard Aces, winner of the Louisiana Handicap, is being sold and transferred to John Sadler in California.

Hard Aces, a 5-year-old who became a stakes winner in a four-length romp in the Louisiana Handicap on Jan. 17, is being sold by Dreamchaser Thoroughbreds and will be sent to the California barn of trainer John Sadler, Larry Jones said Friday. He trained and was a co-owner of Hard Aces, who has won five of 19 starts and earned $215,145.

Jones, who had been preparing Hard Aces for the Mineshaft, said that with the horse set to leave the barn, Albano, who was training toward the Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston, might run instead in the Mineshaft.