Summer Front, second in his last two trips to Southern California, is headed west again, this time pointing to the Grade 1, $300,000 Eddie Read Stakes on July 20 at Del Mar.
Last month, Summer Front shipped to California, where he finished second to Obviously in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile. Last November, Summer Front shipped to Southern California and finished second, beaten a nose by Silentio in the Grade 2 Citation.
Trainer Christophe Clement planned to work Summer Front on Sunday at Belmont.
Saratoga Snacks, the multiple stakes-winning New York-bred owned by Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells, worked four furlongs in 49.01 seconds Friday morning over the Belmont Park training track. It was his first breeze in six months.
Saratoga Snacks has not raced since losing by a head to Zivo in the Whodam Stakes over Aqueduct’s inner track Jan. 19. Zivo went on to win his next four starts, including the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap on July 5.
“When he got beat a head, he got beat by a good horse,” said trainer Gary Sciacca, the trainer of Saratoga Snacks.
Trainer Bret Calhoun is setting up a 15-horse division at Louisiana Downs and said he would begin moving horses to the Bossier City track Monday. The group will include Louies Flower, a stakes winner being pointed for the $100,000 Prelude at Louisiana Downs on Aug. 2, and Sithechristmas Elf, a 2-year-old co-owned by “Duck Dynasty” cast member “Uncle Si” Robertson.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Wood Memorial winner Wicked Strong continued preparations for an expected start July 26 in the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga by working a strong six furlongs in 1:13.17 Friday morn ing over the Belmont Park training track.
Under exercise rider Kelvin Pahal, Wicked Strong broke off at the five-furlong pole and shaded 36 seconds for his first three furlongs. With his ears up and reaching out nicely, Wicked Strong went his final three furlongs in 37.27 seconds. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:26.72.
The 3-year-old Good Bye Greg, a sharp winner in each of his first two starts at Arlington and Woodbine, remains on track to race at the Saratoga meet after breezing a half-mile in a bullet 47 seconds Wednesday.
“He worked awesome,” said trainer Larry Rivelli. “It was like a maintenance work, and the horse, he just drug the kid around there, galloped out in about a minute.”
Good Bye Greg, by Teuflesberg, has only raced on Polytrack so far. Rivelli was considering the Amsterdam on dirt but now is leaning toward the Quick Call, a turf sprint July 24.
Having won the Arlington Sprint for the third time in a row, the 9-year-old Saint Leon finds himself in a familiar midsummer position – a holding pattern.
Saint Leon has made 19 of his last 21 starts in Chicago. He’s a quirky horse with some anxieties, and trainer Michele Boyce, who rarely leaves town, has been averse to shipping Saint Leon. She gave in and tried last summer, with Saint Leon finishing second in an Ellis Park turf-sprint handicap in August and sixth at Euro-style Kentucky Downs in September.
The dates agreement between Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course, finalized last week after months of negotiations, put an end to the agonizing one-year, head-to-head conflict between the two tracks. The positive effects have been reaped immediately in terms of field size and the overall improvement in the racing product for horsemen and horseplayer alike.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Global View exited his disappointing seventh-place finish July 5 in the Belmont Derby in good physical condition, has returned to trainer Tom Proctor’s string at Arlington, and is being pointed for the Secretariat Stakes on Aug. 16, according to Craig Bernick, president of owner Glen Hill Farm.
A 7-1 chance in the $1.25 million Belmont Derby, Global View raced from the back of the pack, and as he was attempting to rally wide in the homestretch, a horse came out and briefly blocked his path.
The stakes winners Aotearoa, Diamond Bachelor, Enterprising, Forever Juanito, G.G. Ryder, and Home Run Kitten are among the nominees for the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes on Thursday’s opening day at Del Mar. Also nominated are the stakes-placed runners Argyle Cut, Friendswith K Mill, Home School, Ontology, and Patriots Rule.
The race is likely to be divided into divisions, which has been common in recent years. The Oceanside Stakes is run over a mile on turf for 3-year-olds.
AUBURN, Wash. – It’s been almost four years since Felipe Valdez won a stakes race. The interminable space in between has been occupied by a life-altering racing accident, surgery and then more surgery, years of rehabilitation, and finally tentative first steps toward reclaiming his career.
Against this unfortunate backdrop, a lot of people will be rooting for Valdez on Sunday when he rides Charlie Thomas in the Seattle Slew Handicap at Emerald Downs.
