LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Big Bazinga, whose connections at one point had hoped to run in the Kentucky Derby, was scratched from Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 American Turf at Churchill Downs after getting sick, trainer Katerina Vassilieva said Saturday morning.
Vassilieva said Big Bazinga coughed a couple of times after his last workout, and a blood test performed Friday “wasn’t good.”
Handle on the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Friday was down 1.6 percent this year, or approximately $200,000, on a day when overall handle on the 12-race card was down 5.5 percent, or $2.5 million, according to a side-by-side comparison of charts of the races.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After the close of ontrack wagering Friday, Santa Anita Derby winner California Chrome was the 3-1 favorite in advance wagering for Saturday's Kentucky Derby, with Wood Memorial winner Wicked Strong and Arkansas Derby winner Danza co-second choices at 8-1.
Ride On Curlin, to be ridden by three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel, was next at 12-1 odds, followed closely by Louisiana Derby runner-up Intense Holiday at 13-1.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As the trophy presentation for the 140th Kentucky Oaks concluded, the song “Girl On Fire” came blaring through the loudspeakers at Churchill Downs.
They could have been playing that for jockey Rosie Napravnik, who continued her sensational year – and career – with a stirring 4 1/2-length victory aboard the favored Untapable in Friday’s Grade 1, $1 million Oaks. It was the second time in three years that Napravnik won the Oaks, having captured it for the first time in 2012 on Believe You Can.
AUBURN, Wash. - Assessment, once a leading handicap horse at Emerald, had fallen on hard times in recent years, ceding much of his speed to injuries or Father Time. So when the 10-year-old captured a $15,000 claiming sprint last weekend, trainer Howard Belvoir was just as surprised as anyone.
“He had been training terrible,” Belvoir said. “In fact, he tied up three days before. His muscles locked up real bad, kind of like a charley horse. I was going to scratched him, but I hate to do that, and he came out of it, so we went ahead. It’s good on him for getting a win.”
AUBURN, Wash. – With no suitable fillies-only race on the immediate horizon, Dan Markle decided to try his promising 3-year-old filly Strawberry Dawn against the boys. Naturally, it’s one he hopes he doesn’t regret.
Strawberry Dawn drew post 3 and will be ridden by Felipe Valdez in Sunday’s seventh race, a $22,575 no-conditions allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs. Markle is using the race as a prep for the $50,000 Seattle Handicap on June 1.
AUBURN, Wash. – With no suitable fillies-only race on the immediate horizon, Dan Markle made the decision to try his promising 3-year-old filly Strawberry Dawn against the boys. Naturally, it’s one he hopes he doesn’t regret.
Strawberry Dawn drew post 3 and will be ridden by Felipe Valdez in Sunday’s seventh race, a $22,575 no-conditions allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs. Markle is using the race as a prep for the $50,000 Seattle Handicap on June 1.
Texas Bling, best known for his 128-1 win over eventual champion Will Take Charge in the $300,000 Springboard Mile two seasons ago at Remington Park, is possible for the Grade 3, $200,000 Lone Star Park Handicap, said trainer Danele Durham. Texas Bling is now based at Lone Star after wintering at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark., where he was diagnosed with an upper-respiratory infection following a seventh-place finish in an allowance route March 29.
Got Shades, a troubled fifth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf after winning a pair of stakes at Louisiana Downs, is moving closer to a return to racing. He has not started since January and was to have his first work back Saturday, said trainer Danny Pish. The horse is a long-range candidate for some of the major turf stakes at Arlington Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita is running eight races on Sunday as part of a plan for a shorter racing program following nine- and 11-race programs on Friday and Saturday.
A similar plan is scheduled for the weekend of the Preakness Stakes, with eight-race programs on May 16 and 18 and an 11-race program on May 17.
