Tue, 12/10/2013 - 17:17

Aqueduct: DRF Plus handicapping report for December 11, 2013

Race 1

Spot Play

Won't hold recent turf tries against TUG OF WAR (#5, 6/1) and wonder if the barn change can help him get back to his dirt form from 2012 and early 2013, which makes him very competitive.-Mike Beer

Tue, 12/10/2013 - 15:40

Hollywood Park: Streaming, Taste Like Candy could get rematch in Las Virgenes

Benoit & Associates
Streaming won the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes last Saturday to remain unbeaten in two starts.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Streaming and Taste Like Candy, the first two finishers in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes last Saturday, could have a rematch in the $300,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over a mile at Santa Anita on Feb. 1.

After Saturday’s race, trainer Bob Baffert said he would like to keep Streaming in Grade 1 races in early 2014. The Las Virgenes is the first of two Grade 1 races for 3-year-old fillies at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. The $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks will be run April 5.

Tue, 12/10/2013 - 15:26

Hollywood Park: Boat Trip will miss Hollywood turf course

Benoit & Associates
Boat Trip (left) wins the Hollywood Turf Express by a half-length Sunday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Boat Trip, a 4-year-old Harlan’s Holiday colt, made the most of the final seasons of Betfair Hollywood Park.

The track will close permanently at the end of the meeting Dec. 22, and Boat Trip is going out a winner. He won Sunday’s $100,000 Hollywood Turf Express over six furlongs on grass by a half-length over No Silent, Chips All In, and Unbridled’s Note, who finished second in a triple dead heat.

Tue, 12/10/2013 - 15:05

Golden Gate Fields: Gold Rush 1-2-3 might meet again in California Derby

Vassar Photography
After winning the Gold Rush Stakes with Russell Baze, Exit Stage Left will be pointed to the California Derby on Jan. 18.

An interesting rivalry appears to be developing at Golden Gate Fields heading into 2014. Exit Stage Left, who is 2 for 2 with two stakes victories after winning the one-mile Gold Rush Stakes last Saturday, Gold Rush runner-up Argyle Cut, and third-place finisher Rockford all are looking at the $100,000 California Derby on Jan. 18 for their next start.

Exit Stage Left is a New Jersey-bred colt purchased by Mark DeDomenico and Jerry Hollendorfer for $100,000 at the March Barretts sale.

“He worked well,” Hollendorfer said, explaining the purchase.

Tue, 12/10/2013 - 14:23

Hollywood Park notes: Poker Player joins CashCall Futurity cast

Barbara D. Livingston
Poker Player, who won the Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes in October, will run in Saturday's Grade 1 CashCall Futurity.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – More than a month after finishing eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita, Poker Player is being sent back to California for Saturday’s $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Trainer Wayne Catalano said Tuesday that Poker Player will be shipped from Florida for the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity over 1 1/16 miles. The CashCall is run on a synthetic track, which holds significant appeal for Catalano and his clients, Gary and Mary West.

Mon, 12/09/2013 - 16:51

Aqueduct: Closer Looks for December 11, 2013

Race 1

Socialsaul
Not a good sign that his 1st race off the claim produced a career-low Beyer speed figure; the dull effort was in his return to AQU Main in a race he may have needed off a 50-day layoff; is winless on AQU Inner dirt but owns a career-Top Beyer here when stakes placed December, 2012; back to reality in a race where he can be claimed from; July 5th-place finish saw the runner-up Beyer 93 in his next-out S
Mon, 12/09/2013 - 15:25

Aqueduct notes: Ullapool headed to Gulfstream

Chelsea Durand/NYRA
Ullapool won Saturday's $100,000 Garland of Roses at Aqueduct by two lengths, earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Ullapool, dominant winner of Saturday’s $100,000 Garland of Roses Stakes, will head to south Florida this week and make her next start in the $150,000 Florida Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Sprint at Gulfstream on Jan. 18, trainer Eddie Kenneally said Monday.

The Florida Sunshine Millions is a series of races restricted to Florida-breds.

Mon, 12/09/2013 - 14:59

Aqueduct notes: Esler looks to continue momentum at winter meet

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Coming off a solid showing at the Aqueduct fall meet, trainer Nick Esler hopes to build on the momentum and expand his business during Aqueduct’s winter meet, which begins with Wednesday’s opening of the inner-track meet.

Esler, 31, had a record of 4-2-2 from 11 starts during Aqueduct’s fall session, his best performance since going out on his own in spring 2012. He currently has 11 horses in his care in Belmont Park’s barn 5, but he’s “looking to fill up the empty stalls,” he said.

Mon, 12/09/2013 - 13:48

Tampa Bay Downs: Cool Cowboy targets Pasco Stakes

SV Photography
Cool Cowboy and jockey Eduardo Perez were not seriously challenged in the stretch of the Inaugural.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Dale Bennett’s instructions to jockey Eduardo Perez before Saturday’s $69,000 Inaugural Stakes were simple.

“I told him, ‘Just run ’em off their feet,’ ” Bennett said.

And that’s exactly what Perez did aboard Cool Cowboy, as they raced three wide to the turn of the six-furlong race head-and-head for the lead, then swept to the front, and the rest, as they say, was history. The speedy colt scored by 3 1/2 lengths for his third win from five career starts, but as his trainer pointed out Monday, he worked for it.

Mon, 12/09/2013 - 11:45

Woodbine: Jose Sea View makes case for Sovereign Award

Michael Burns
Jose Sea View and jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson win the Display Stakes by a neck Sunday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Jose Sea View staked his claim for Canadian champion 2-year-old honors Sunday at Woodbine with a hard-fought win over Coltimus Prime in the $134,250 Display Stakes. Those two protagonists hooked up on the lead on the backstretch and then dueled throughout the lane before Jose Sea View prevailed by a neck in the 1 1/16-mile event.