SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Palace Malice, the leading older male dirt horse in training, drew post 5 and was installed as the even-money favorite for Saturdays’ Grade 1, $1.5 million Whitney Invitational at Saratoga.
Palace Malice, trained by Todd Pletcher for Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stable, is 4 for 4 this year and is coming off a one-length victory in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on June 7. John Velazquez will ride.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Mark Casse brought a number of his best 2-year-olds to Del Mar this summer and plans to run two of them Sunday in the Grade 2, $200,000 Best Pal Stakes, this track’s major prep for the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on closing day, Sept. 3.
Conquest Bigluck E, a winner of his lone start against maidens at Churchill Downs on June 5, and Skyway, third in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs last time out, give Casse a strong one-two punch in the 6 1/2-furlong race.
Burn the Mortgage, a 4 1/2-length winner of the Eight Miles East Stakes last Saturday, will remain at Gulfstream and probably run next in the $75,000 The Vid on Sept. 13, said owner-trainer Mike Maker.
Edgard Zayas gave Burn the Mortgage a trouble-free ride in the Eight Miles East, which was the only one of four scheduled turf races to remain on the course Saturday after heavy rain forced the others to the main track.
“The horse was trying to lug in a little bit all the way, but I was trying to stay out of trouble,” said Zayas.
The West Virginia Derby card, which has a special 2 p.m. Eastern first post time, consists of nine stakes, all of which have drawn good-sized fields. As many as 100 horses might run.
The unquestionable star of the undercard is Moonshine Mullin, an astounding $40,000 claim by trainer Randy Morse who will run in the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s. Moonshine Mullin has won five races in a row, including the Grade 1 Stephen Foster and Grade 2 Alysheba. He earned a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the Foster, which is a BC Challenge Series race.
Jockey Jamie Theriot, who teamed with trainer Bret Calhoun for a Breeders’ Cup double in 2010, will join forces with Calhoun at Louisiana Downs on Saturday, when he rides Louies Flower in the $100,000 Prelude. The race is the local prep for the Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby. It also is the lone open-company stakes on a card of nine restricted stakes worth a cumulative $700,000.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher has enjoyed too much success at Saratoga to lament the ones that got away. One can forgive him, however, for still agonizing over last year’s Travers, in which Palace Malice stumbled at the start, was last early, and rallied to finish fourth, beaten three-quarters of a length by Will Take Charge.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Even though he has won five times in 20 starts, a respectable record, Passing Game seems to always get passed over by bettors. That’s just fine with his trainer, Gary Sherlock, who isn’t shy about backing Passing Game at the windows and has cashed all five times he has won – at odds of 20-1, 39-1, 10-1, 36-1, and, here last time out July 17, at 30-1.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Amir Cedeno was injured Tuesday morning at Del Mar when the 3-year-old colt Eddie’s First inexplicably collapsed just past the finish line during a routine training gallop, pinning Cedeno under the horse until assistance arrived.
Once freed, Cedeno complained of pain in his shoulder and was taken to Scripps La Jolla Hospital to be evaluated.
Candy Boy’s second season begins in earnest Saturday – and it’s going to involve some travel.
With no major main-track stakes for 3-year-olds left in California, Candy Boy will hit the road to compete in the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. If things go according to plan, he could rack up additional frequent-flier miles over the next few months.
“The plan is to stay on dirt in these big races for 3-year-olds,” trainer John Sadler said.
