OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Classic Giacnroll, the runner-up in the Jerome Stakes here Jan. 4, worked a half-mile in 50.86 seconds Saturday over the Aqueduct inner track in preparation for next Saturday’s $250,000 Withers Stakes. It was the third-fastest of 15 works at the distance.
ARCADIA, Calif. No Jet Lag will have a different look when he starts in Saturday’s $200,000 Arcadia Stakes at Santa Anita.
In an effort to settle the 4-year-old gelding and keep him from setting the pace in the one-mile turf race, trainer Simon Callaghan plans to put cotton in No Jet Lag’s ears, hoping for a calming effect. The cotton will be held in place by a hood.
The Ron McAnally-trained Suggestive Boy, unraced since last March, is on schedule for a comeback in the $200,000 Arcadia Stakes at a mile on turf on Feb. 1.
Suggestive Boy on Thursday worked seven furlongs on turf in 1:27.60 under jockey Joe Talamo, who has the mount in the Grade 2 Arcadia. The workout impressed McAnally since Suggestive Boy was racing closer to the outside rail than the inside rail.
The American debut of Argentine Group 1 winner Di Giorgio in Sunday’s $75,000 Clockers’ Corner Stakes is unlikely to result in a win.
Trainer Ron McAnally said on Friday that Di Giorgio will need a start to be at his best in this country. The Clockers’ Corner Stakes is run at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course.
“He’s going to need a race,” McAnally said. “It’s a start for him. He’s fit enough to go 6 1/2 furlongs.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Travel arrangements for champion Will Take Charge, who is scheduled to make his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 1, $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream on Feb. 9, are still being determined, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said earlier this week. Lukas has been working to line up a suitable flight from Arkansas to Florida.
“We want to run in the Donn,” he said. “We’re working very diligently on coordinating travel arrangements. If we have to van, we’ll go seven, eight days early.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, is unlikely to start in the Grade 2, $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 8 because of ongoing concern over a grabbed quarter.
Shared Belief has not worked since Jan. 3 and did not work as scheduled at Santa Anita on Friday. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said that Shared Belief does not have a scheduled workout in coming days.
“We’re not satisfied with the progress of the foot,” said Hollendorfer, who described the foot as slow to heal. “You have to proceed day by day.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Apple Blossom winner On Fire Baby was en route to Oaklawn on Friday afternoon, trainer Gary Hartlage said. She was due to arrive in Hot Springs on Saturday morning after being based at a farm in Florida.
On Fire Baby has been in light training following a freshening and on Wednesday worked three furlongs and galloped out strongly, said Hartlage, who was on hand for the Florida move. He said plans are to breeze her at Oaklawn next Saturday or Sunday.
“She’ll be on a regular work schedule when she gets here,” Hartlage said.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Majestic Stride, who earlier in his career participated in the 3-year-old stakes series at Oaklawn, now has designs on the meet’s biggest race for sprinters. Trainer Jeff Bonde said the Grade 3, $300,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on April 10 is a goal for Majestic Stride, who last fall was a close fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Four years ago, trainer Butch Reid won the Grade 3 Withers Stakes with Afleet Again, who upset four rivals at odds of 24-1.
Next Saturday, when the Withers is run for the 134th time, Reid will try to win it again with Honorable Judge, a full brother to Afleet Again.
“I don’t know if lightning can strike twice or not, but we’ll give it a try,” Reid said.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
NEW ORLEANS – A longtime fixture at the Fair Grounds, trainer Andy Leggio turned 80 on Jan. 15. Running a 20-horse stable, he’s still going strong. Skip the Pinot’s victory in the last race Thursday gave Leggio four wins at the meet and put him 11th in trainers’ earnings.
Leggio was 14 when he arrived on the Fair Grounds backstretch, going to work for trainer Odie Clelland. “I was cleaning stalls, walking horses, and he was teaching me how to gallop,” Leggio said.
