Fri, 11/22/2013 - 15:39

Fair Grounds: General Election points to Woodchopper

Four-Footed Fotos
General Election made his turf debut in the Arlington Classic and clearly handled the surface.

NEW ORLEANS – It will not take long for Arlington chairman Richard Duchossois to get a good idea exactly what he purchased for $450,000 earlier this month at Keeneland’s November horse auction.

General Election, the 3-year-old colt Duchossois bought from WinStar Farm’s consignment of horses of racing age, is stabled with new trainer Neil Pessin at Fair Grounds and is scheduled to work on Saturday morning, and if all goes well he will make his first start for his new connections on Nov. 30 in the $75,000 Woodchopper Stakes.

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 14:46

Aqueduct: Palace eyes first graded win in Fall Highweight

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Palace, claimed for $20,000 13 months ago, will seek to become a graded stakes winner when he runs in Thursday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Fall Highweight Handicap at Aqueduct.

Since being claimed by Linda Rice and owner Antonino Miuccio, Palace has won 6 of 9 starts, including, most recently, the $150,000 Hudson Handicap for New York-breds at Belmont Park. That race came two months after Palace knocked off Grade 1 winner The Lumber Guy in the Chowders First Stakes at Saratoga.

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 14:40

Churchill Downs: Clark weight spread narrow between Game On Dude, Will Take Charge

Tom Keyser
Will Take Charge, under Luis Saez, wins the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing last Saturday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Game On Dude has been assigned high weight of 126 pounds, three more than his younger rival, Will Take Charge, for the signature race at the Churchill Downs fall meet, the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap next Friday.

The weight spread between the two Clark favorites is a tad closer than in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Classic, in which 3-year-old Will Take Charge carried 122 pounds when finishing second by a nose at 8-1 to Mucho Macho Man. Game On Dude was a fading ninth as the 8-5 favorite under 126 pounds.

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 14:03

Gulfstream Park notes: Reveron begins road back in Sunday allowance

Barbara D. Livingston
Reveron could make a start in the Grade 3 Lexington at Keeneland on April 21.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Agustin Bezara came within one week of realizing every trainer’s dream – to start a horse in the Kentucky Derby. But Bezara never did make it to Louisville, his dream shattered after Reveron suffered a slight fracture of his left front ankle during a one-mile workout at Calder the Saturday before the 2012 Kentucky Derby.

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 13:58

Hollywood Park notes: Apprentice VanDyke gets first win

Benoit & Associates
Need You Now, ridden by Julien Leparoux, won the Le Cle Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths Sunday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Apprentice jockey Drayden VanDyke won for the first time on Thursday, riding Money Clip to victory in the sixth race at Betfair Hollywood Park. It was the second mount of his career.

VanDyke, 19, guided Money Clip ($9.40) from off the pace with a wide run to win the six-furlong race by a half-length over 12-1 I Buy Gold. Money Clip needed minimal urging, getting a tap of the whip from VanDyke through the stretch.

“It felt great to get my first win,” he said. “This is the best experience ever.”

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 13:48

Hollywood Park: Better Lucky's 35-1 days over in this year's Matriarch

Coady Photography
Better Lucky, with Julien Leparoux aboard, wins the First Lady Stakes by a head over Dayatthespa.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – When Better Lucky won the $250,000 Matriarch Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park in a 35-1 upset in 2012, the race proved that she is best in one-mile turf races.

This year, Better Lucky’s campaign has been geared toward such stakes, including a return to California for the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares on Dec. 1.

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 13:41

Woodbine: Lexie Lou thriving since adding blinkers

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Trainer John Ross is having one of his best years from a monetary perspective, and Lexie Lou will try to keep the ball rolling in Sunday’s $125,000 South Ocean Stakes at Woodbine.

The South Ocean, a 1 1/16-mile test for Ontario-sired juvenile fillies, is usually among the weakest stakes of the Woodbine meet, but Sunday’s edition is exceptional, and it could contain a future Sovereign Award finalist.

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 15:52

Aqueduct notes: My Miss Aurelia’s return likely postponed until 2014

Tom Keyser
Champion My Miss Aurelia's comeback has been postponed.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The comeback of champion My Miss Aurelia remains on hold and will now likely not take place until this winter in south Florida.

Hoping to run My Miss Aurelia in the Grade 2, $300,000 Go for Wand at Aqueduct on Nov. 29, trainer Todd Pletcher has had to scrap those plans due to a nagging foot issue that has plagued My Miss Aurelia for the past month. Pletcher said that My Miss Aurelia will head to south Florida on Saturday to train for a presumed comeback beginning at Gulfstream Park in early 2014.

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 12:18

Churchill Downs: Stephanie's Kitten joining Chad Brown's barn in Florida

Tom Keyser
Owner Ken Ramsey has set his sights on winning an Eclipse Award with Stephanie's Kitten in 2014, so he wants her based in New York during the summer.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The standout turf filly Stephanie’s Kitten is scheduled to be sent Friday from Ramsey Farm in Kentucky to the Palm Meadows training center in south Florida, where she will have a new trainer in Chad Brown.

Owner-breeder Ken Ramsey said he and his wife, Sarah, are looking to win a divisional Eclipse Award in 2014 with Stephanie’s Kitten and that “probably the best way to do that is have her based in New York” later in the year after Brown leaves Florida in early spring.