Fri, 11/03/2023 - 18:17

Aqueduct to have $114k carryover in Saturday's pick-6

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Interstatedaydream was one of the shorter priced winners on Aqueduct's Friday card, taking the Turnback the Alarm and paying $3.90.

The pick-6 was not hit for a second consecutive card Friday at Aqueduct, resulting in a carryover of $114,441 into Saturday’s 10-race card.

The sequence was permeated by double-digit priced winners including Solib ($16.60), The Paddock Pastor ($21.20), Main Event ($21), and Ez Roll ($10.40). Air Show ($9.80) and Crupi ($4.40) were the other winners in the sequence.

The consolation payout for 5 of 6 returned $691.50.

Fri, 11/03/2023 - 13:08

Del Mar set to begin autumn meet

Barbara D. Livingston
Del Mar will begin its autumn meet starting next Friday.

Del Mar begins a 13-day autumn meeting on Friday with a three-day weekend that includes three stakes. The season runs through Dec. 3.

Friday’s program is led by the $75,000 Let It Ride Stakes, a restricted race for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf. The $75,000 Kathryn Crosby Stakes, a restricted race for fillies and mares at a mile on turf, is the main race on Saturday. Sunday’s feature is the $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes for statebred fillies and mares at seven furlongs.

Fri, 11/03/2023 - 13:08

Dettori suspended, will miss Melbourne Cup

Barbara D. Livingston
Jockey Frankie Dettori has been suspended for three days for a disqualification in a race at Santa Anita on Oct. 28.

Jockey Frankie Dettori has been given a three-day suspension for causing interference that led to the disqualification of his mount from first to eighth-place in the fifth race at Santa Anita on Oct. 28.

Dettori was cited for his ride on Circle of Trust, who altered course on the turn without clearance. The suspension begins Sunday and covers racing on Nov. 25-26.

Fri, 11/03/2023 - 13:08

Santa Anita to install synthetic training track

Barbara D. Livingston
After this weekend's Breeders' Cup, Santa Anita will close its training track to install a new Tapeta surface.

Santa Anita will close its infield training track later this month to replace the existing dirt surface with a synthetic surface, the track announced in late October.

The project is expected to take two months, weather permitting.

The training track is popular with trainers, who often send runners for daily exercise, including workouts, in lieu of using the main track.

Fri, 11/03/2023 - 13:08

Joe Bravo set to move tack to Florida

Benoit Photo
After two years of regularly riding in California, jockey Joe Bravo announced that he will be moving his tack to Florida this week.

ARCADIA, Calif. — Veteran jockey Joe Bravo is moving from Southern California to Florida in coming days.

Bravo said on Thursday that a desire to be closer to his family and more racing opportunities were factors in his decision.

“I want to move back and be close to them,” Bravo said of his family. “I’ve got a house in South Florida. I love California racing, but I have four days off.”

Fri, 11/03/2023 - 12:43

River Tiber scratched from Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf

Debra A. Roma
Morning-line favorite River Tiber was scratched from Friday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

ARCADIA, Calif. – River Tiber, the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Friday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita, was scratched from the race Friday morning, the Breeders’ Cup reported.

The official reason given for the scratch is trainer withdrawal. Attempts to reach trainer Aidan O’Brien were unsuccessful early Friday morning.

O’Brien will still have the likely favorite in the Juvenile Turf in Unquestionable, who was the 4-1 morning-line second choice. Ryan Moore, who was named on River Tiber, will replace Frankie Dettori on Unquestionable.

Thu, 11/02/2023 - 17:01

Aqueduct has Friday carryovers in late pick five and pick six

R. L. Thibodeau
The late pick five, which on Friday encompasses races 6 through 10, will have a $147,582 carryover. The pick six, which includes races 5 through 10, will have a $37,682 carryover.

Victories Thursday by Artemis Girl ($103.50) in race 5 and Bertrille ($202.50) in race 9 - split divisions of a turf maiden for New York-bred juvenile fillies - resulted in there being carryovers in both the late pick five and pick six into Friday’s Aqueduct card.

The late pick five, which on Friday encompasses races 6 through 10, will have a $147,582 carryover. The pick six, which includes races 5 through 10, will have a $37,682 carryover.

Thu, 11/02/2023 - 15:43

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint: Danner confident Shards will run well

Shards with Kelsey Danner at SA Nov 2 2023
Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Kelsey Danner gives Shards a little one-on-one time at Santa Anita. Danner's stable is going to top $2 million in purse earnings for the second straight season and she has a chance to set a new personal best for wins in a year.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The trainer Kelsey Danner thinks her first Breeders’ Cup starter, Shards, can do more than pick up some pieces Friday in the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Shards needed defections from the main body of the field to make the Juvenile Turf Sprint, but he belongs. Shards was a sharp Colonial Downs maiden turf sprint winner in his third start before weaving his way through traffic to finish third, beaten a neck, in the Indian Summer Stakes, a Keeneland turf sprint Oct. 8.

Thu, 11/02/2023 - 14:30

Breeders' Cup Clocker: Arabian Knight full of energy in gallop

Debra A. Roma
Arabian Knight wrestles with his rider in a Thursday morning gallop prior to the BC Classic.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Let the games begin.

That’s probably the prevailing thought among most, if not all, horsemen as the countdown to this year’s Breeders’ Cup moved into its final stages when daylight dawned on a picture-perfect morning for training Thursday at Santa Anita.

Wed, 11/01/2023 - 19:35

Breeders' Cup Classic: After 10 years in exile, Dutrow back playing at highest level

Richard Dutrow, .Background McKinley,Ian.Cornett,Mark.10-26-23
Barbara D. Livingston
White Abarrio is the star of Rick Dutrow’s barn, which has gone 14 for 78 since he returned to training after a 10-year suspension.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Richard Dutrow Jr. believed he’d have a big horse in the barn again. He just didn’t know it would be this soon.

The man who trained Big Brown to win two-thirds of the Triple Crown in 2008 and Saint Liam to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2005, is back in the spotlight with White Abarrio, who just may go off favored in Saturday’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

It comes just seven months after Dutrow returned from a 10-year suspension handed him by the New York Racing Commission for a history of repeated violations.