HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Atreides might not be the only locally based 3-year-old with designs on the Grade 3 Indiana Derby on Oct. 4. Trainer Bill Kaplan is considering the race for East Hall, who is exiting a troubled sixth-place finish in the Super Derby.
“He’s nominated to Indiana,” Kaplan said. “We’ll wait and see who’s going in the race and how he’s doing over the next couple of weeks before making a final decision.”
BENSALEM, Pa. – While all eyes – and cell-phone cameras – were focused on Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome on Wednesday morning at Parx, Haskell Invitational winner Bayern went about his morning routine with nary a glance.
That was just fine with Jimmy Barnes, the assistant to trainer Bob Baffert who accompanied Bayern here from Southern California.
“Doesn’t matter to me, I don’t pay attention to it,” Barnes said.
BENSALEM, Pa. – The curiosity seekers were not out in full force like they were a decade ago, the last time a Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner roamed the backside at Parx. Still, a few dozen people, cell-phone cameras at the ready, lined the rails Wednesday morning as California Chrome walked onto the track shortly after 8:30 a.m. on a cloudless, comfortable late-summer day.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Departing was scheduled to have a final breeze this weekend in preparation for the $125,000 Homecoming Classic at Churchill Downs, the highlight of closing weekend next Saturday, Sept. 27.
Departing, a 4-year-old War Front gelding, has not raced since finishing eighth in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 2. He has worked three times in the interim, the latest being a half-mile breeze Sunday in 48 seconds at Churchill.
Wise Dan and the last horse to beat him, Silver Max, appear headed for a showdown in the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile on Oct. 4 at Keeneland.
Wise Dan, the reigning two-time Horse of the Year, breezed last Saturday on the new Keeneland dirt surface, going a bullet five furlongs in 59.40 seconds.
Silver Max, who outran Wise Dan last fall in the Shadwell when weather forced the race to the Polytrack, was scheduled to work Thursday morning over the Keeneland turf, said trainer Dale Romans.
The Grade 1 Shadwell will be the first $1 million race in Keeneland history.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Theoretically, an inside post is the quickest way to victory.
But in one-turn races, most horsemen prefer an outside post, given a choice. There’s less chance for encumbrances that might be found when trapped in traffic close to the rail, and outside horses often don’t have to stand as long in the starting gate.
Fred Hutton, director of racing for Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M., has been named racing secretary for Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. He will keep his positions at both tracks, which share common ownership in Penn National Gaming.
Zia’s mixed meet closes in December, while Sam Houston opens its Thoroughbred meet Jan. 16 then segues into a Quarter Horse meet March 27.
Declan’s Fast Cat, who was second to Vicar’s in Trouble in the Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby, could be headed next to either the Oklahoma Derby or the Indiana Derby, said his trainer, Steve Flint. Declan’s Fast Cat closed from last in the Super Derby and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 87.
“I was very pleased with his performance,” said Flint, private trainer for the horse’s owner, the Whispering Oaks Farm operation of Carroll Castille. “I was hoping for a quicker pace, but we didn’t get it. But he gave a good account of himself.”
It was midmorning on June 7, many hours before his horse, California Chrome, was to attempt to become Thoroughbred racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner, and owner Steve Coburn was in the box seats at Belmont Park. Fans below him on the apron were waving and shouting to him, throwing memorabilia his way for him to sign.
“I was signing autographs, talking to people, waving to the crowd – it was a lot of fun,” Coburn recalled this week in a phone interview.
Nates Mineshaft made a name for himself running around two turns, with wins in races such as the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap in 2012. But a powerful effort at one turn in his 7-year-old debut last Saturday night at Remington Park has him under consideration for sprint stakes at the Oklahoma City track and at Keeneland, said his trainer, J.R. Caldwell.
