ELMONT, N.Y. – Close Hatches, fourth as the 1-5 favorite in Sunday’s Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland, returned to the track Thursday, jogging a mile around the Belmont Park main track under Leanna Willaford.
“She feels great, couldn’t fault her,” said Willaford, assistant to trainer Bill Mott. “She’s happy. Sometimes they have an off day like the rest of us. I have a lot.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Kiaran McLaughlin says he doesn’t do it often, but in the paddock prior to Bay of Plenty’s return to the races Wednesday at Belmont Park he asked jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. to try and save something for the next race.
“I said we don’t need a hard race, just in case we want to run back in three weeks,” McLaughlin said Thursday. “It went according to plan.”
Tamarando, the winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity in 2013 and two other stakes, is nearing a return to racing following a summertime break.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Tamarando is a candidate for the $100,000 California Flag Handicap for statebreds at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course on Oct. 18, according to Dan Ward, Hollendorfer’s assistant.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Story to Tell had a fine start to his career until he started in the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 3, finishing sixth.
“He didn’t like the track down there,” trainer Dan Hendricks said.
A return to training on dirt at Santa Anita in the last month has brightened Story to Tell, Hendricks said. The trainer has mapped a three-race autumn campaign that begins in Monday’s $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes for 2-year-olds at six furlongs.
Rainha Da Bateria earned an expenses-paid berth in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with a win in the Grade 3 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland on Wednesday. The Jessamine was the last Win and You’re In race for the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and trainer Graham Motion said Rainha Da Bateria would be shipped from Keeneland to Santa Anita next week to begin final preparations for the one-mile race Oct. 31.
Among a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile field that will include a $1.6 million purchase and several others who brought six figures at auction, there is Texas Red, a son of Afleet Alex who sold for a mere $17,000.
Keith Desormeaux, the trainer and part-owner of Texas Red, doesn’t really know why. He thinks it’s the horse’s modest pedigree, noting that Afleet Alex has been “cold” at stud, and the dam is a Chilean-bred mare, Ramatuelle, whose four other foals have not done much.
Otherwise, Texas Red is “a physical masterpiece,” Desormeaux said.
One of the most exciting 2-year-old maiden-race winners in Southern California this fall will not be in a Breeders’ Cup race.
Acceptance, a colt by Vronsky, won his debut last Sunday by 13 1/4 lengths in a maiden race for California-breds over 6 1/2 furlongs. Acceptance was timed in 1:15.27.
“I wish he hadn’t made it so close at the finish,” co-owner Bud Johnston said. “He was very impressive. We thought he was a good colt.”
One year after making Breeders’ Cup history by becoming the first woman to saddle the winner of the Classic, Kathy Ritvo is headed back to Santa Anita. Unfortunately, she is not returning with defending Classic champion Mucho Macho Man, who was retired this year, but with the lightly raced Sprint hopeful Fast Anna.
“Nobody will ever be like Mucho Macho Man, but it’s really exciting to be able to go back to the Breeders’ Cup with a horse I believe has exceptional talent and who has proven he belongs to be there,” Ritvo said.
Long Hot Summer, the unbeaten California-bred 2-year-old filly, worked three furlongs in 36.80 seconds Wednesday at Santa Anita, preparing for the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies over seven furlongs Oct. 31.
Trained by Phil D’Amato, Long Hot Summer has run twice, beating maidens in July and winning the Generous Portion Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 27. Wednesday’s workout was the filly’s first recorded workout in a month. D’Amato timed Long Hot Summer galloping out a half-mile in 49 seconds.
