HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Wind Racer had to wait until she turned 4 before finally getting to the races, but she did not disappoint her connections or backers once she did, winning her career debut in impressive fashion here Wednesday.
Wind Racer, a 3-5 favorite, overcame early trouble to win by five lengths after completing six furlongs in 1:09.21 under Javier Castellano. Wind Racer, a daughter of Curlin, is trained by Marty Wolfson for Stonestreet Stables and Martin Cherry.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Only six were entered for Saturday’s Grade 3 Hal’s Hope at Gulfstream, led by last year’s Donn winner, Lea. The remainder of the lineup consists of Valid, Golden Lad, Confrontation, Slim Shadey, and Prayer for Relief.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – For a horse who finished second in the Champagne Stakes and was beaten a nose for second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Upstart may be flying a bit under the radar as he prepares for his 3-year-old campaign, which will begin here later this winter. But the man who knows the horse best, trainer Rick Violette, couldn’t be more bullish on the New York-bred Upstart, who worked four furlongs in 49.10 seconds at Palm Meadows on Tuesday.
Construction has begun on new stalls at Laurel Park. Under the 10-year agreement between the Maryland Jockey Club and the horsemen that was signed in 2012, the Stronach Group, owner of the MJC, agreed to build an additional 300 stalls as part of the backstretch revitalization project.
Horses in Maryland are stabled at Laurel, Pimlico, and the Bowie Training Center during the year. Once the additional stalls are completed, stabling could be consolidated to two locations.
Laurel Park will change its schedule for February and March by adding Sunday racing.
Beginning Feb. 1, Sundays will be added, with Laurel racing on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule. Thursdays will be dropped starting Feb. 5.
Thursday racing will resume March 5, with the track running Thursday through Sunday.
The 2014 Grade 1 winners Hoppertunity and Majestic Harbor are part of a projected field of 11 in Saturday’s $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
Hoppertunity, who won the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28, will be favored in the Grade 2 race, a prep for the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 7. Majestic Harbor was fourth in the 2014 San Antonio. He won the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita last June.
Lexie Lou, the winner of the 2014 Queen’s Plate at Woodbine and a game second to California Chrome in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 29, is scheduled to have her first start of 2015 in the $200,000 La Canada Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 17.
The Grade 2 La Canada Stakes is for 4-year-old fillies, and Casse said the age restriction has significant appeal. Lexie Lou has never raced on dirt. She has won 7 of 16 starts and earned $1,429,714 while racing on turf and a synthetic track.
The New York Racing Association continues to make progress on expanding the Belmont Park barn area, nearly completing the construction of one new barn and expanding several others. The goal is to have 200 additional stalls by May and another 50 by the fall.
Belmont’s barn area expansion is part of $36 million in capital improvements the NYRA has planned in 2015 for its three racetracks - Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Little time passed after Rockinatten’s win in a maiden race at Gulfstream Park West in October before the gelding was on his way to California. The 2-year-old was the subject of a private purchase that could have an immediate payoff in Saturday’s $100,000 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.
The Grade 3 Sham, run over a mile, will be the stakes debut of Rockinatten, now trained by Doug O’Neill.
“I think he’s a big, good-looking guy with a long stride,” O’Neill said Wednesday. “And we’ve got Bejarano.”
It appears that Spring Quality has found his spot. Entered and scratched out of a six-furlong optional-claiming race at Parx in which he would have been favored last Sunday, Spring Quality on Friday will get an extra furlong of ground to work with in a similar first-level optional $35,000 claimer at Laurel Park.
