OLDSMAR, Fla. – When Sneaking Uponyou powered away from the field through the stretch en route to a smashing 6 1/4-length victory in the Hilton Garden Inn/Hampton Inn and Suites Sprint Stakes, it put an exclamation point on the 12th Florida Cup Day at Tampa Bay Downs on a Saturday program that saw locally based runners take four of the six $75,000 stakes for Florida-breds.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Tapiture breezed for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Monday, going a half-mile in 50.80 seconds in the second set of workers at Oaklawn Park. He is one of the favorites for the mile and an eighth race that closes out the meet Saturday.
The track Monday was rated sloppy, and was sealed. It was a clear but damp morning, and temperatures were in the high 40s.
GRAND ISLAND,Neb. - Leading rider Jake Olesiak was at it again Sunday at Fonner Park as he posted a six-win day for the second time this season.
Olesiak has dominated the jockey colony this year, and with 10 racing days left in the meeting owns a commanding lead with 55 wins through 21 days of racing. Mike Ziegler is second in the standings with 28 and Olesiak's older brother Jordan has 22 to hold third.
ARCADIA, Calif.- Game On Dude is on schedule for a start in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia on April 19 after working six furlongs in 1:13 at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Game On Dude won the Santa Anita Handicap on March 8 for a record third time in his most recent start. Mike Smith rode Game On Dude in the Santa Anita Handicap and was aboard for Sunday’s workout.
“I haven’t worked him a lot,” said Smith, Game On Dude’s rider since December 2012. “I’ve been on him six, seven, or eight times, and that was the best he worked. It felt like he was flying.”
CYPRESS, Calif. – They have been running Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos since 1951, have mixed in Thoroughbreds over the years, and once had harness racing here, too. But when you drive down Katella Avenue and reach the turnoff for the racetrack, an electronic sign at the corner boasts that Los Alamitos is the “home of California Chrome.”
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
ARCADIA, Calif. - The undefeated Bayern had his final workout before next Saturday’s $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park at Santa Anita on Sunday, working seven furlongs from the gate in 1:23.80.
Ridden by Gary Stevens, Bayern was exercised in company, starting at the six-furlong pole, and working past the wire to the seven-eighths pole, at the start of the clubhouse turn.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Wicked Strong came out of his 3 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct “a little tired” but otherwise in good order, according to trainer Jimmy Jerkens, who added that he will wait until as late as possible to ship his horse to Louisville for the May 3 Kentucky Derby.
Rick Violette, the trainer of Wood runner-up Samraat, also said his horse came out of the race well and he too would wait until the Monday before the Derby to ship his horse to Churchill Downs.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Ride On Curlin completed his major preparations for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Sunday morning, when he breezed seven furlongs in 1:26.80 at Oaklawn Park. He will come into the 1 1/8-mile race off a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Rebel at Oaklawn. The Arkansas Derby closes out the Oaklawn meet Saturday.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Champion Will Take Charge was assigned the high weight of 123 pounds for the Grade 2, $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap on April 12, while one of his rivals from last year, Moreno, is next on the list at 118. Oaklawn Park’s racing office released the weights Saturday. Entries for the 1 1/8-mile race will be taken Wednesday.
Will Take Charge has been pointing for the Oaklawn Handicap. It will be his third start of the year, following runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Donn at Gulfstream and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. Both races went in track-record time.
