HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The next-race plans for Promise Me Silver, who ran her record to 5 for 5 in the $100,000 Dixie Belle at Oaklawn on Thursday, are to be determined, trainer Bret Calhoun said Friday. He said at this point, there is at least one question to be debated.
“We have to decide if we want to stretch her out or not,” said Calhoun, who trains Promise Me Silver for Robert and Myrna Luttrell.
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A little more than two weeks into 2015, fields at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky remain deep, though down from peak December levels. The track is averaging 8.8 starters per race, down from 10.1 starters during December, but its average should climb after this week’s racing. Friday and Saturday’s cards drew large fields, and 93 horses, plus five also-eligibles, were entered for Sunday’s nine-race program.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mr. Z and Lucky Player were among nine 3-year-olds entered in the $150,000 Smarty Jones, which was drawn Friday. The one-mile race will be run on a special Monday card at Oaklawn.
Mr. Z was third by a head in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity in his most recent start Dec. 20. Lucky Player won the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs in September. Others entered include Bayerd, the Remington Park horse of the meet for his win in the $255,000 Springboard Mile.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The owners of Arkansas-breds who win open-company races this meet at Oaklawn, excluding stakes, will receive a $2,000 supplement after a measure was passed by the Arkansas Racing Commission on Thursday. The bonus will come from a fund administered by the Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Horsemen’s Association. The measure will be in effect for the 2015 meet at Oaklawn.
“We’re trying to entice people to put horses in with open company to promote Arkansas-breds,” said Deana Echols, executive secretary of the ATBHA.
NEW ORLEANS – No Fault of Mine, who served notice that she might be a Kentucky Oaks candidate with a good second-place finish in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes on Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs, is off the Oaks trail with what trainer Chris Block described as “a little injury.”
No Fault of Mile came out of a recent training session in Ocala, Fla., with a small chip in her knee.
“It was a no-brainer to go ahead and take it out,” Block said Thursday when reached by phone in Florida. “She had the surgery yesterday.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Ride On Curlin had a memorable 3-year-old season last year, placing in four graded stakes, including the Preakness. It appears that his connections have more to look forward to at age 4.
Ride On Curlin was a powerful allowance winner Thursday at Oaklawn Park, where he closed with gusto to win a photo. Ride On Curlin covered six furlongs in 1:10.40 to earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 93 in his first start since finishing off the board in the Belmont Stakes in June.
“He was mowing them down,” said Billy Gowan, who trains Ride On Curlin for Dan Dougherty.
Wise Dan, the Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2013, continues to recover from a cannon-bone fracture discovered in his right front ankle in October, leaving trainer Charlie LoPresti optimistic that he can resume light training next month with continued progress.
“He’s doing great, getting turned out six or seven hours in a paddock each day,” LoPresti said Friday. “He looks to be sound on his ankle. We’ll re-radiograph it soon, and if everything looks good, he can get back to jogging when the weather breaks maybe sometime in mid-February.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Bayern, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, was jogged Friday with a bar shoe protecting a foot made tender by a recent abscess, trainer Bob Baffert said.
Bayern has missed training in the last week because of the foot issue, and the situation has cast doubt on whether Bayern can be ready for the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7. The Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes is expected to include the top 4-year-olds California Chrome and Shared Belief.
My Sweet Addiction was entered in the $75,000 Paseana Stakes over a mile last Sunday until trainer Marty Jones took a look at the Santa Anita main track early in the day.
“It looked pretty ugly out there,” he said.
Overnight rain left the main track wet-fast that day and led Jones to scratch My Sweet Addiction. Jones had a backup plan with Monday’s $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes for fillies and mares over seven furlongs.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – With five runners nominated to next Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin would appear to have a hammerlock on the race. But he said Friday that he will try to divide and conquer with his bevy of 3-year-olds, splitting the quintet among different spots while reserving the Holy Bull for the highly regarded Frosted, who finished second in the Remsen Stakes in his final start at age 2.
