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.
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.
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.
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.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park canceled the final five races on its nine-race program Sunday due to inclement weather. The decision was made after conferring with the local riding colony, according to officials.
It’s the second partial card lost during the meet. Oaklawn also has lost four full programs to bad weather since the meet began Jan. 10.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Sweet Reason, last year’s Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes winner, will make her 3-year-old debut in a one-mile allowance race Friday at Aqueduct.
The $69,000 race, which is for 3-year-old fillies who have never won three races lifetime or who are entered for a claiming price of $75,000, drew a field of five. The other four runners are maiden winners still eligible for a first-level allowance condition.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The top three finishers from Saturday’s Grade 3 Gotham Stakes – Samraat, Uncle Sigh, and In Trouble – all seem to have come out of the race in good order and, barring a change of heart or a setback, are expected to return to Aqueduct for the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial on April 5.
Samraat ran his record to 5 for 5 with a neck victory over Uncle Sigh, the same 1-2 finish as in the Grade 3 Withers Stakes here Feb. 1. Uncle Sigh finished a neck in front of In Trouble, who was making his first start since Sept. 29.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Champion Will Take Charge and Southwest Stakes winner Tapiture put in works Sunday at Oaklawn Park before rain moved into the area and temperatures dropped. The track was rated “fast” for workouts Sunday.
Will Take Charge, preparing for Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap, came out when the track opened at 7 a.m. Central on an overcast, 60-degree morning. He was strong throughout a half-mile work in 47.80 seconds, the fastest of 74 moves at the distance Sunday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed in its familiar spot as the favorite in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which closed Saturday following a three-day run.
The field closed at 3-1, followed by Cairo Prince (9-1), Top Billing (11-1), Honor Code (11-1), Candy Boy (12-1), Shared Belief (15-1), Bayern (17-1), Tapiture (17-1), and Strong Mandate (18-1).
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Rydilluc, a multiple stakes-winning turf horse, sustained a soft-tissue injury when finishing fifth in the Canadian Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 22 and will miss at least the remainder of the year, according to trainer Gary Contessa.
Contessa said it hasn’t been determined whether Rydilluc will attempt to come back next year or be sold as a stallion prospect. He did say the earliest Rydilluc could return to training would be at the beginning of 2015.
