Mon, 03/03/2014 - 15:12

Fair Grounds: Divine Beauty unlikely for Fair Grounds Oaks

Alexander Barkoff/Hodges Photography
Divine Beauty, winner of the Letellier Memorial, is one of two fillies trainer Larry Jones may run in the Rachel Alexandra.

Trainer Larry Jones said Monday he isn’t certain what’s next for the promising 3-year-old The Trunk Monkey, who ran his record to 2 for 2 with an allowance win Friday at Fair Grounds. But Jones is fairly sure that Divine Beauty, a good second behind Unbridled Forever in the Jan. 18 Silverbulletday Stakes, won’t make the March 29 Fair Grounds Oaks.

Divine Beauty, who won her first two starts, last posted a timed workout Feb. 3, when she went a slow five furlongs after finishing 1 1/2 lengths behind Unbridled Forever in the Silverbulletday.

Mon, 03/03/2014 - 15:11

Gulfstream Park: Little Mike breezes easy three furlongs

Barbara D. Livingston
Little Mike breezed three furlongs in 38.23 seconds on Monday at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Multiple Grade 1 winner Little Mike got his first feel for the local strip since arriving from Ocala, Fla., on Saturday, breezing a very easy three furlongs in 38.23 seconds on Monday at Gulfstream for his owner and now trainer, Carlo Vaccarezza.

Little Mike, whose biggest win came in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Turf, has not started since finishing ninth in the Hong Kong Cup on Dec. 8.

◗ A carryover of $2,141,640 will be up for grabs in the Rainbow 6 when racing resumes with a 10-race card Wednesday.

Mon, 03/03/2014 - 15:10

Aqueduct: Mean Season out indefinitely with leg injury

Debra A. Roma
Mean Season wins an allowance race Saturday at Aqueduct. He was pulled up past the wire by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Mean Season, who looked to be developing into a top-flight sprinter, will be out indefinitely due to an injury he sustained in winning an allowance race at Aqueduct on Saturday.

According to trainer Bill Mott, Mean Season suffered “an avulsion fracture at the origin of the suspensory” of his left foreleg. That type of injury involves a bone and soft tissue that makes it somewhat tricky to determine how much time off the horse will need.

Mon, 03/03/2014 - 15:00

Gulfstream Park: Honor Code works again

Tom Keyser
Honor Code worked five furlongs in 59.18 seconds on Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Honor Code moved another step closer to his 3-year-old debut after working five furlongs in 59.18 seconds under jockey Javier Castellano on Sunday at Gulfstream. Working in company with Special Agent, Honor Code broke off at the half-mile pole a length behind his stablemate, covered his opening quarter in 23.04, reached the finish line under wraps in 46.59, then continued out into the turn, completing the move at the mile pole before galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.24.

Mon, 03/03/2014 - 14:54

Gulfstream Park: No Nay Never moves ahead after first career loss

Tom Keyser
Trainer Wesley Ward said No Nay Never will still point to the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot in June after the colt's first career defeat in Saturday's Swale Stakes.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Wesley Ward acknowledged his frustration after his previously undefeated No Nay Never suffered his first defeat when finishing second behind the late-running Spot as the odds-on favorite in Saturday’s Grade 2 Swale at Gulfstream.

“I was really disappointed that he got beat,” Ward said. “There are a lot of variables that you think you could have done differently, but after the fact, the end result is what it is. I just hold this horse in such high regard, I thought he’d go down there in 1:21 and change even after a 44-and-change half-mile.

Mon, 03/03/2014 - 14:42

Gulfstream Park: Ribo Bobo remains red-hot

Tom Keyser
Ribo Bobo won the $75,000 Caixa Eletronica Stakes on Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – When it appeared that Sunday’s $88,500 Caixa Eletronica Stakes was in jeopardy of not filling, trainer Jason Servis began considering alternatives for his win machine, Ribo Bobo. The list of options spanned the widest of possible spectrums, from a $6,250 starter allowance race in New York to a trip to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen.

Mon, 03/03/2014 - 12:43

Tampa Bay Derby: Casse, Pletcher have top contenders

Tom Keyser
Vinceremos, under Edgar Prado, scores a 12-1 upset in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Mark Casse and Todd Pletcher’s training operations are different in many ways. Casse bases his stable at Woodbine near Toronto from the time he leaves Florida each winter until late fall, while Pletcher is based in New York at Belmont Park and Saratoga once he leaves Florida each spring.

Most of the horses in Casse’s stable are owned by John Oxley, while Pletcher has a number of different owners and ownership groups for his large string of runners.

Sun, 03/02/2014 - 18:24

Santa Anita: Mucho Macho Man is 124-pound highweight in Big Cap

Benoit & Associates
Mucho Macho Man works a half-mile in 48.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday ahead of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mucho Macho Man is alone at the top of the weights for Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap with an assignment of 124 pounds for the meeting’s top race for older horses.

On Sunday afternoon, Mucho Macho Man had the Santa Anita racetrack to himself for a few minutes, working five furlongs in 1:01.53. The workout was the last for Mucho Macho Man before the Big Cap, where he is expected to go favored in his first start in California since a win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last November.

Sun, 03/02/2014 - 17:01

Santa Anita: Clubhouse Ride leaning toward San Carlos Stakes

Benoit & Associates
Clubhouse Ride will make his first start since September in Sunday's $75,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Clubhouse Ride, second in the 2013 Santa Anita Handicap, is likely to start in Saturday’s $250,000 San Carlos Stakes over seven furlongs.

Trainer Craig Lewis said Sunday he is considering three races Saturday – the San Carlos, the $350,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on turf, or the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap over 1 1/4 miles on dirt.

Clubhouse Ride has started once this year, finishing fifth in the Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course Feb. 23. Lewis downplayed the likelihood of a start in the Big Cap.

Sun, 03/02/2014 - 16:47

Santa Anita: Baffert has no firm plans for Awesome Baby

Benoit & Associates
Awesome Baby, with Mike Smith aboard, proves uncatchable in the Santa Ysabel for 3-year-old fillies.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Awesome Baby has joined trainer Bob Baffert’s list of hopefuls for the $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 2, but how she gets to that race remains to be seen, Baffert said.

Awesome Baby remained unbeaten in 2014 with a victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita. She led throughout the Grade 3 race for 3-year-old fillies, winning by 2 3/4 lengths over Artemis.

The victory was Awesome Baby’s first over 1 1/16 miles. She won the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs here Jan. 4, her first stakes win.