Joy Boy, a winner of two of his last three outs, will start as one of the top contenders in Sunday’s eighth race at Oaklawn Park, a third-level optional $62,500 claiming race at a mile. The field of eight includes Stachys, Donoharm, and Agent Di Nozzo.
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Take Charge Brandi, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2014, is scheduled to work Sunday at Oaklawn, said her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas. She is preparing for her 3-year-old debut, which is to come in the $100,000 Martha Washington at a mile at Oaklawn on Jan. 31.
Take Charge Brandi won three consecutive stakes to close out her 2-year-old season: the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, the Grade 3 Delta Downs Princess, and the Grade 1 Starlet. She races for Willis Horton of Marshall, Ark.
The pedigrees of the 3-year-old fillies in the eighth race here at Gulfstream Park on Sunday, a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race, don’t get much richer.
Among the field of 13 are first-time starters Pin Up, a Tapit filly whose dam, Cara Rafaela, produced the great racehorse and sire Bernardini; Regia Marina, a Medaglia d’Oro filly whose dam, Fleet Lady, produced 2008 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman; and Fast Moon, a fast-working first foal from a mare whose female line includes Inside Information and Educated Risk.
Perchance earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure in a one-length victory in a six-furlong, first-level allowance here at Gulfstream Park on Thursday and is a possibility for the Grade 2 Davona Dale on Feb. 21, according to her connections.
Perchance, a 3-year-old filly by Distorted Humor, was produced by Dream Rush, a former standout sprinter whose two previous foals, the now-retired Dreaming of Julia and Atreides, were brilliant miler types.
Any chance of Little Mike returning to action here at Gulfstream Park this winter ended earlier this month when owner-trainer Carlo Vaccarezza sent the four-time Grade 1 winner back to the farm in Ocala. Vaccarezza had Little Mike in training here throughout the fall and got him up to an open gallop on the turf in mid-December and a three-furlong breeze over the main track on Christmas Eve before opting to postpone his star’s comeback once again.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures that Carve, Code West, and Ivan Fallunovalot earned in their most recent starts might lead their connections to pass on the next round of races for their divisions at Oaklawn Park.
Carve and Code West earned respective Beyers of 106 and 100 for running one-two in the $100,000 Fifth Season at Oaklawn on Jan. 16. Carve rolled to a 3 1/2-length win, covering 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.40. It was his first start since finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was suspended 15 days and fined $1,000 for the finding of the drug Flunixin, also known as Banamine, and an overage of Lasix in the body fluid of Saratoga Snacks, who finished last in a New York-bred allowance race Sept. 20 at Belmont Park, according to the New York State Gaming Commission.
Mott is appealing the suspension. Had he not appealed, the suspension would have been reduced to seven days.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita has changed the conditions of the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 7 in an attempt to draw opponents for California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year, and Shared Belief, the 2013 champion 2-year-old male.
All runners will receive a minimum of $20,000 in prize money. Typically, horses that finish fifth would receive 2 percent of the purse, which would be $10,000 in a race with the value of the San Antonio.
“We want to try to get a representative field,” racing secretary Rick Hammerle said. “It’s on national TV.”
