ARCADIA, Calif. – On Tuesday, trainer Bob Hess Jr. was seeking a rider in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship for Merit Man to replace Kent Desormeaux. Desormeaux was hospitalized Sunday after being kicked in the chest during a frightening incident in the post parade for the eighth race.
Desormeaux remained hospitalized as of Tuesday morning with a fractured rib and a bruised lung, Hess said. It was unclear Tuesday how long the 44-year-old Desormeaux would be sidelined.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Rich Tapestry, a stakes winner in Hong Kong and Dubai, will make his American debut in Saturday’s $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, a race that trainer Michael Chang hopes will lead to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 1.
Rich Tapestry cleared quarantine Monday and trained at Santa Anita on Monday and Tuesday.
“He’s settling well,” Chang said Tuesday. “It’s a new environment.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With Gulfstream Park now having established a year-round circuit in south Florida, Northern-based horsemen are expressing more interest in having a presence in this area. The latest example is David Jacobson, who expects to have 20-25 horses stabled on the grounds by the time the championship meet opens later this fall.
Of the trio of 2-year-olds who won major turf stakes over the weekend, Imperia might be the only one advancing to the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 31. He won his maiden Sunday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Pilgrim at Belmont Park.
Elm Park, who on Saturday accounted for the Group 2 Royal Lodge at Newmarket, a Win and You’re In race for the BC Juvenile Turf, and Ol’ Man River, the winner of the Group 2 Beresford at The Curragh on Sunday, were leaning in different directions as of Monday.
Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., will open for a 46-date Quarter Horse meet on Wednesday night, with the centerpiece of the season the $1 million Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association Futurity. The track’s season will run through Dec. 20.
ARCADIA, Calif. – In a year, Bright Thought has gone from being a completely overmatched longshot in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Mile to one with an outsider’s chance for the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.
Last year, Bright Thought started in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, his first race since the preceding March. He finished last of 10 behind Wise Dan at 25-1.
It was all quiet on the Breeders’ Cup Mile front this past weekend, but the division blazes back to life Saturday and Sunday with action in Kentucky, California, and France.
Wise Dan, the BC Mile winner in each of the last two years, continues to lead the Mile rankings, but his position is more precarious than in recent years, and he could be in for a challenge from Seek Again on Saturday at Keeneland in the Shadwell Turf Mile.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Tonito M. was bright and alert Monday at Remington Park, where he was taking in the sunshine a day after capturing the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby. He was scheduled to return to his California base Tuesday, and from there, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer will determine what direction to take with the horse, said owner Mickey Gonzalez.
Tonito M. capped a big weekend for 3-year-olds in the Hollendorfer barn, with Shared Belief defeating older horses in the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita on Saturday in his final steppingstone to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
This past Saturday’s Grade 1 preps for the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita helped clarify the picture regarding the leading U.S. prospects.
Stephanie’s Kitten in the Flower Bowl at Belmont and Emollient in the Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita each won as the favorite and earned expense-paid berths in the Filly and Mare Turf.
The runners-up in the two races also proved that they fit in the Breeders’ Cup. Abaco rallied to lose by 1 1/4 lengths in the Flower Bowl, while Parranda tested Emollient to the end in the Rodeo Drive, falling a half-length short.
Private Zone stamped himself as a major contender for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint after successfully defending his title with a game victory over Dads Caps in Saturday’s Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont Park. But the question still remained: Who will saddle Private Zone in the Sprint?
Would it be Doug O’Neill, who has done such an outstanding job handling the horse since he came to the United States from Panama two years ago, or Alfredo Velazquez, the trainer of record for Private Zone when he won the Vosburgh last weekend at Belmont?
