DEL MAR, Calif. – When trainer Bob Baffert got to work on Monday morning at Del Mar, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with Bayern.
Though Bayern was scheduled to work a couple hours later, Baffert was weighing the merits of running him in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth on Sunday, or bypassing that 1 1/8-mile race, keeping Bayern around one turn, and awaiting the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at seven furlongs next month at Saratoga.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Lafontaine (18-1) sprung the upset as the longest shot on the board when he won his stakes debut in the $128,500 Toronto Cup Stakes at Woodbine on Sunday for 3-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles.
Lafontaine tracked the front-running Heart to Heart in third along the rail early and got up in the final strides after a determined stretch drive under Steven Bahen.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Given the success of her sire and dam on the grass throughout their racing careers, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Regal Conqueror would find success on turf as well.
After two out-of-the-money finishes sprinting on the Polytrack to start the year, Regal Conqueror went off at 7-1 in her turf debut in the $150,000 Ontario Damsel Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine. She rallied down the lane under jockey Eurico Da Silva to win by a half-length over Skylander Girl.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – After two disappointing results to start the season, 2013 Canadian Horse of the Year Up With the Birds appeared to relish a return to his home track on Saturday as he captured the Grade 2, $236,400 Nijinsky Stakes by four lengths over Dynamic Sky and earned a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
Bench Warrant and Lord Nelson are bound for the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 3 after winning the first starts of their careers in maiden races over five furlongs on Saturday.
Bench Warrant was timed in 57.97 seconds, winning by 1 1/4 lengths over Remo. Ridden by Tyler Baze, Bench Warrant closed with a rush on the inside in the final furlong.
Miss Serendipity, the winner of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita in May, will run in the $250,000 John Mabee Stakes for fillies and mares over 1 1/8 miles on turf on Aug. 10.
Trainer Ron McAnally said on Sunday that he prefers the Grade 2 Mabee Stakes to the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 16.
“I thought about going back there, but it’s a long trip,” he said. “With the European horses coming over, it’s not an easy race.”
DEL MAR, Calif.- Jockey Eswan Flores, who has struggled to gain business this year, was suspended by Del Mar stewards on Sunday for failing to appear at a morning hearing regarding a missed drug test in late June, the stewards announced in a ruling.
Flores was scheduled to meet with stewards Scott Chaney, Luis Jauregui, and Kim Sawyer on Sunday, but did not attend. He contacted the stewards through an intermediary and later arrived at the track for a drug test administered by California Horse Racing Board investigators, stewards said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It was a typically busy Sunday morning at Saratoga, and also typically, Palace Malice made the strongest impression, working a very strong five furlongs in preparation for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Whitney Handicap Invitational on Aug. 2.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Somali Lemonade, winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga, was scheduled to van back to trainer Michael Matz’s Fair Hill stable on Monday but plans for her next race remain undetermined.
Matz said he would consider the Grade 1, $750,000 Beverly D. at Arlington Park on Aug. 16, but was a little concerned about running her back in four weeks. The Diana was the fifth race of the year and fourth in four months for Somali Lemonade.
