ARCADIA, Calif. – Alert Bay, who won his fourth consecutive race, all stakes, in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile on turf last Friday at Santa Anita, will make his first start in the statebred division since August in the $250,000 California Cup Turf Classic over 1 1/8 miles on turf on Jan. 24.
Trainer Blaine Wright said the Cal Cup Classic is preferred to a start against open company in a race such as the $200,000 Arcadia Stakes over a mile on turf on Jan. 31.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Rattataptap is a rarity in trainer Jeff Bonde’s stable – a filly that races from off the pace.
Bonde has become well known in recent years for his speedy sprinters, notably graded stakes winners Distinctiv Passion, She’s a Tiger, and Smiling Tiger. Rattataptap won her debut at Del Mar on Nov. 29 by closing from fifth in a field of 12 to win by a nose.
She makes her stakes debut in Saturday’s $200,000 Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita.
Retired Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron will be the keynote speaker during a Jan. 7 banquet in Arkansas in advance of the start of the Oaklawn Park meet Jan. 9.
The event will be at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock, Ark. Tickets are $50 and must be purchased through the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce by Friday.
Delta Downs announced there will be a $25,000 minimum pool for its early and late pick fours. The bet has a 50-cent minimum. Delta was to institute the guaranteed pools on Wednesday.
Delta’s early pick four runs on races 1-4, while the late pick four comprises the track’s final four races. The season-high pick four payoff came on Dec. 12, when the bet returned $8,861.60. Delta races through March 14.
In Maryland, 2014 was the year of Trevor McCarthy.
The 20-year-old native of Delaware was the leading rider at all three of Maryland’s major meets: Laurel winter-spring, Pimlico, and Laurel fall-winter.
Through Dec. 29, he was tied for sixth in the nation with 263 wins and was 20th in purse earnings, with more than $8.1 million. McCarthy won his first graded stakes in 2014, taking the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks on Fortune Pearl and the Grade 3 Boiling Springs at Monmouth Park on Munirah. Both horses are trained by Graham Motion.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Mike Maker is considering the Mucho Macho Man, formerly known as the Gulfstream Park Derby, for A. Rod Again. Making his second start, A. Rod Again rallied to a 4 1/2-length maiden triumph going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6.
“I’ve always liked him,” Maker said of A. Rod Again, a son of Awesome Again. “He really put it all to together in his second start, and he continues to move forward with every work.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Jess’s Dream, the first foal of the champion mare Rachel Alexandra, continues to progress toward his much-anticipated career debut, which could come here in late January, according to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Jess’s Dream, by Curlin, arrived at Palm Meadows this month and worked five furlongs in 1:00.25 on Dec. 18.
“He’s doing well,” said McLaughlin. “He’s only had the one five-eighths breeze, and we still have some gate work to do with him.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Main Sequence, among the leading candidates for Horse of the Year honors, arrived at his winter home at the Palm Meadows training center near Boynton Beach, Fla., late Sunday morning following a long van ride from Maryland.
“It was kind of a crazy trip down; they hit a lot of traffic,” said trainer Graham Motion.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – If Antonio Gallardo were a Thoroughbred in a sprint race, his chart would show him 12 lengths in front after an opening quarter-mile of 20 seconds flat.
The rider, who vaulted into prominence with a breakout meeting at Tampa Bay Downs last season, has picked up right where he left off in the early stages of the 2014-15 stand. Through Sunday, Gallardo had won an amazing 28 races, 12 more than second-place Daniel Centeno, a five-time riding champion at Tampa Bay Downs. And Gallardo shows little sign of slowing down.
