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.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – El Kabeir, the winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in his last start, heads a field of nine likely to run in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, the first of four races for 3-year-olds on this circuit that offer qualifying points to the May 2 Kentucky Derby.
El Kabeir completed preparations for the Jerome on Sunday, working a half-mile in 48.46 seconds, getting his final quarter in 23.47 under exercise rider Simon Harris. He then galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.92 and six furlongs in 1:13.03.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Gary Sciacca, who was fired as the trainer of Saratoga Snacks by owner Bill Parcells in the summer, has bought the multiple stakes-winning New York-bred ridgling for himself from the Hall of Fame football coach.
Sciacca said the deal for the soon-to-be 6-year-old was finalized just before Christmas.
“He was the one that wanted to do it,” Sciacca said of Parcells. “I’ve always like the horse.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – From the inner dirt to the desert?
Salutos Amigos, who ended his 2014 campaign with three stakes wins in his last four starts, is under consideration for the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen, a dirt race at about six furlongs on the undercard of the Dubai World Cup on March 28 at Meydan, according to trainer and part-owner David Jacobson.
As of Sunday, there were 12 probable starters for next Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Monrovia Stakes for fillies and mares on the hillside turf course. The two Grade 2, $200,000 stakes on Saturday - the Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over 6 1/2 furlongs, and the San Gabriel Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on turf - are expected to attract seven and eight runners, respectively.
After 13 starts, Distinctiv Passion may be a changing colt for trainer Jeff Bonde.
Saturday, Distinctiv Passion won his first graded stakes in the $100,500 Midnight Lute Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs. Distinctiv Passion led throughout, and set a quick pace, but Bonde noticed a different style of racing on the lead from the 4-year-old.
“The horse, in the last six weeks, in the mornings, he has learned to wait a little bit,” Bonde said. “That was the most patient I’ve seen him in a race.
“He ran his best race.”
ARCADIA, Calif.- Bolo is likely to make his main track debut in the $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds on Feb. 7 after winning his stakes debut in Saturday’s Eddie Logan Stakes for 2-year-olds on turf.
Trainer Carla Gaines said she would like to try Bolo on the main track to gauge the colt’s ability on the surface as the Triple Crown races grow closer. She said there are advantages to trying the Grade 3 Lewis Stakes, which is run over 1 1/16 miles.
“I think it works in the sense of timing,” she said. “I think I’ll have to try it.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - El Kabeir completed preparations for his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 3 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct by working a half-mile with a strong six-furlong gallop-out Sunday morning at Belmont Park.
Following a few morning showers and breezing after the second renovation break, El Kabeir breezed a half-mile in 48.46 seconds with a final quarter in 23.47. El Kabeir then proceeded to gallop out five furlongs in 1:00.92 and six furlongs in 1:13.03 under exercise rider Simon Harris.
It is safe to expect big things from Micks Miracle, the winner of a maiden special-weight race for 2-year-olds Friday. Recent history is on his side.
A maiden special-weight race for 2-year-olds has been part of the opening-day program of the winter-spring meeting in four of the last five years. Three of those four winners went on to win stakes – Concord Point, The Factor, and Midnight Transfer. The Factor won five stakes, including the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes in 2011.
