Fri, 06/13/2014 - 13:30

Mucho Macho Man still in light training due to bruised ankles

Shigeki Kikkawa
Mucho Macho Man trains at Santa Anita on Sunday. He comes into the Santa Anita Handicap off a 14-length romp in the Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mucho Macho Man, who has not started since his fourth-place finish March 8 in the Santa Anita Handicap, remains in light training at Gulfstream Park after being diagnosed with bruising of the hind ankles, according to trainer Kathy Ritvo.

Fri, 06/13/2014 - 13:05

Expect to see more from Catalano come July

Shigeki Kikkawa
Through the first six weeks of Arlington's meet, trainer Wayne Catalano is a relatively quiet 4 for 22.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – By now, followers of the Chicago circuit almost certainly have asked themselves, “Where’s Wayne?”

Wayne Catalano has won the Arlington training title 10 times: in 2012-13, from 2005-2010, and in 2002-03. Moreover, torrid starts to the meet have become almost annual for Catalano’s barn, which long has targeted Arlington as its major meeting. Last year, between the meet’s opening and June 12, Catalano went 69-30-9-6-6. In 2010, his barn went 21-15-11 from 74 starters, and in 2008, Catalano somehow won with 24 of 40 starters during that early-season period.

Fri, 06/13/2014 - 12:48

Asmussen points Untapable to Mother Goose

Debra A. Roma
Trainer Steve Asmussen (right) is pointing Untapable to the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Steve Asmussen said he will monitor weather patterns in determining when to send Kentucky Oaks winner Untapable to New York for her next start, the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes on June 28 at Belmont Park.

Asmussen will be at Churchill Downs early Monday to oversee the penultimate prerace work for Untapable, the standout leader of the 3-year-old filly division.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 16:38

Captain Serious to try open company in Dwyer

Barbara D. Livingston
Captain Serious earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for his win in the Mike Lee (above).

ELMONT, N.Y. - After winning three sprint races against New York-breds, Captain Serious will step out of his comfort zone in both company and distance when he runs in the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on July 5.

Captain Serious, a son of Successful Appeal, is coming off a three-length victory in the Mike Lee Stakes going seven furlongs here May 31. He covered the distance in 1:20.99 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97. Prior to that, Captain Serious had won a pair of six-furlong races, both by 1 1/4 lengths.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 14:58

Compliance Officer shortens up in tough allowance

Tom Keyser
Trainer Bruce Brown is running Compliance Officer at a shorter than usual seven furlongs on Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Technically, the $100,000 Astoria for juvenile fillies is the only stakes race on Saturday’s Belmont Park program. One could make a case that both the sixth and ninth races could be quasi-stakes events.

The sixth is a multi-conditioned $90,000 allowance race scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on turf and features three graded stakes winners trying to find their previous form. The ninth is a $75,000 New York-bred allowance scheduled for seven furlongs on turf and features a bevy of stakes winners in the statebred ranks.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 14:32

Kai's Command brings speed to starter series

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It seems as though every trainer at Hastings is trying to find a horse who is eligible to run in the Champions Starter Series that begins July 13. What makes the series – restricted to horses who have started for an $8,000 claiming price or less in 2014 – so attractive is that the final leg of the four-leg series carries a $50,000 purse.

Thu, 06/12/2014 - 12:08

Coffee Clique to target Canadian

Barbara D. Livingston
Coffee Clique wins the Just a Game on June 7 at Belmont.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Brian Lynch captured his first Grade 1 stakes last Saturday at Belmont, where the Woodbine-based Coffee Clique prevailed by a nose in the Just a Game Stakes.

Lynch said the long-term goal for Coffee Clique is the Grade 2 Canadian here in September, which is a Win and You’re In stakes for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

“I think she’ll have a little bit of a break now and ultimately try and get one or two more starts into her, pressing on toward the Breeders’ Cup,” Lynch said.

Wed, 06/11/2014 - 16:03

Tonalist comes out of Belmont Stakes eager to go

Tom Keyser
Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist (left) went back to the track Tuesday.

Tonalist came out of his victory in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes so well that his connections sent him back to the track to jog Tuesday, one day earlier than they had planned.

“We were going to give him three days [off], but after the second day, he was in his stall bucking and squealing,” said Christophe Lorieul, the longtime assistant to trainer Christophe Clement.

Lorieul was impressed with Tonalist’s performance, considering it was only his fifth career start.

Wed, 06/11/2014 - 16:01

Moonshine Mullin entered for Foster Handicap

Barbara D. Livingston
Moonshine Mullin upsets the Grade 2 Alysheba on May 2. He is entered for the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on Saturday, but may be scratched to run in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker in two weeks.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Days after Moonshine Mullin fought back to pull an upset at nearly 7-1 in the Grade 2 Alysheba on the May 2 Kentucky Oaks undercard, trainer Randy Morse said he was not inclined to run back the onetime midlevel claimer in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.

As Moonshine Mullin has thrived in his training in recent weeks, Morse has changed his tune, but not completely.

Wed, 06/11/2014 - 15:44

Zenyatta's first foal arrives at Shirreffs's barn

Barbara D. Livingston
Cozmic One, a 2-year-old colt out of the champion mare Zenyatta, is galloping at Belmont Park, but isn't likely to make his career debut until after Saratoga's meet ends.

ELMONT, N.Y. – With the Triple Crown in the rearview mirror, much of the second half of the year centers on the 2-year-olds who could potentially participate in next year’s Triple Crown series.

There won’t be many 2-year-olds under more scrutiny than Cozmic One, the first foal out of the champion mare Zenyatta by the champion Bernardini who arrived at trainer John Shirreffs’s Belmont Park barn on May 23 and has been galloping almost daily since.