American Pharoah, the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile before being sidelined with an injury, is tack walking and will not return to the track to begin training until Jan. 1, his trainer, Bob Baffert, said Wednesday morning.
Baffert said American Pharoah would begin jogging Jan. 1. He said under the current schedule, American Pharoah “won’t run until March.”
Shared Belief, who will be favored Dec. 26 in the $300,000 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita, worked six furlongs in 1:15 Tuesday at Golden Gate Fields.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, was beaten for the first time in his career when he finished a troubled fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.
There certainly was no shortage of interest in Saturday’s two stakes, the Tropical Park Derby and its filly counterpart the Tropical Park Oaks. Both $75,000 races are carded at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
A total of 15 3-year-olds passed the box for the derby, while 23 3-year-old fillies were entered for the Oaks. Conspicuous by her absence from laundry list of Oaks entries was Daring Kathy, a four-time stakes winner who is coming off a wire-to-wire victory against older rivals in the Grade 3 My Charmer Handicap at Gulfstream Park West.
Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan will be based at Oaklawn Park for the first time in his career when the Hot Springs, Ark., track opens on Jan. 9. The season runs through April 11.
Jay Fedor, the rider’s agent, said there were a couple of reasons to come to Oaklawn.
“A lot of our key clients are coming here, and the purses are so good,” said Fedor.
Bridgmohan is expected to ride for a host of different trainers with local divisions, including Steve Asmussen, Scott Becker, Mark Casse, Wayne Catalano, Brad Cox, Kellyn Gorder, and Steve Hobby.
STICKNEY, Ill. – Dom the Bomb is an Illinois-bred 2-year-old, but the way he has dominated restricted competition while demonstrating somewhat surprising stamina has led his connections to consider placing the horse in more ambitious spots early next year.
CYPRESS, Calif. – No Problem, the winner of the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar in November, was supplemented to Saturday’s $500,000 Los Alamitos Futurity for $20,000 when entries were taken Wednesday.
The former maiden claimer will be part of a small field in the Grade 1 race over 1 1/16 miles. The Los Alamitos Futurity has a projected field of five, led by the unbeaten Dortmund, who will make his stakes debut, and Mr. Z, who has finished second in four stakes this year. Other entrants are the Del Mar maiden race winners Bench Warrant and Firing Line.
Just in time for the holidays, Steve Dunn received a gift that keeps on giving.
Dunn, a trainer since 1991, had his first stakes winner in more than four years when Buster Rose rallied from far back to prevail amid a solid field of turf sprinters in the $110,000 Canterbury Stakes on the Dec. 6 Claiming Crown program at Gulfstream Park in south Florida.
“I’m still getting calls and congratulations,” Dunn, 58, said this week from HighPointe Farm and Training Center in LaGrange, Ky.
“It was very special. The horse really had a big year for us.”
Bayerd and Shotgun Kowboy, who finished a head apart in a thrilling edition of the $250,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park, have gone in different directions since Sunday’s race, but there is a chance that the pair could meet again next year at 3. Both horses are remaining in the region, according to their trainers.
Springboard Mile winner Bayerd is to be based at Fair Grounds, said Steve Asmussen, while runner-up Shotgun Kowboy is to ship to Oaklawn Park right after Christmas, according to C.R. Trout.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A full field is shaping up for Saturday’s Tropical Park Derby for 3-year-olds, led by Grade 2 winner Wallyanna, Smooth Daddy, and Cabo Cat. Also to be run here Saturday is the Tropical Park Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. Both are $75,000 races at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
Entries for the Tropical Park Derby will be drawn Wednesday and are expected to include Best Plan Yet, Breitling Flyer, Daddy’s Kid, Idiosyncratic, Ironicus, Other Cheek, and Shiva Ryan.
