Thu, 10/17/2013 - 15:21

Santa Anita: Diamond Bachelor works for Breeders' Cup Juvenile

Benoit & Associates
Diamond Bachelor wins the $100,000 Oak Tree Juvenile Turf at Del Mar.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Diamond Bachelor worked five furlongs in 59.40 seconds at Santa Anita on Thursday, preparing for his first start on dirt in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 2.

Trained by Patrick Biancone, Diamond Bachelor has won 2 of 3 starts. He won the Oak Tree Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on Sept. 4 and was second in the Zuma Beach Stakes on turf here Sept. 6.

Co-owner Kin Hui, who attended Thursday’s workout, said that the $1 million BC Juvenile Turf on Nov. 1 was considered but that the BC Juvenile is the goal.

Thu, 10/17/2013 - 15:16

Santa Anita: Take Control, son of A.P. Indy and Azeri, euthanized

Benoit & Associates
Take Control is out of training for the time being.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Take Control, a 6-year-old horse by A.P. Indy out of 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri, was euthanized after suffering a catastrophic leg injury to his right foreleg in a workout at Santa Anita on Thursday.

Take Control was working in company near the quarter pole when he broke down and fell. Jockey Martin Garcia was unseated, falling clear of Take Control. Garcia remained on the ground but walked off the track under his own power. The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m.

Thu, 10/17/2013 - 15:00

Santa Anita: Private Zone smokes a half-mile for Breeders' Cup Sprint

Shigeki Kikkawa
Private Zone works a half-mile in 45.80 seconds under Martin Pedroza Thursday at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Private Zone needed only 45.80 seconds to complete a solo half-mile workout at Santa Anita on Thursday, preparing for the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 2.

Fifteen minutes after the workout, jockey Martin Pedroza was still feeling the effects.

“I’m still tired from working him,” Pedroza said, seated on the concrete steps of the Santa Anita grandstand.

Thu, 10/17/2013 - 14:28

Belmont Park: Alpha gets green light for Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Tom Keyser
Woodward winner Alpha is among four horses who will represent Godolphin Racing and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin at the Breeders' Cup.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Alpha, upset winner of the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga on Aug. 31, is being pointed to the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Thursday.

Alpha, who at 3 dead-heated for win in the $1 million Travers with Golden Ticket – coincidentally also headed to the Dirt Mile – is coming out of a sixth-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 28.

[BREEDERS’ CUP 2013: See DRF’s top contenders]

Wed, 10/16/2013 - 15:45

Fort Erie: Auditor General's report key to track's future

Fort Erie wound up a 40-day meeting Tuesday that may indeed be its last after the Niagara Region racetrack received an 11th-hour reprieve this spring.

A report last Friday released by the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel, which promised $400 million in provincial funding to a number of Ontario racetracks, did not provide any specific funding for Fort Erie.

Jim Thibert, head of the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium, indicated that Fort Erie’s future now will hinge on a report from the province’s auditor general. The report is expected in mid-November.

Wed, 10/16/2013 - 15:45

Keeneland notes: Ciao Bella Luna seeks rare double in Raven Run

Coady Photography
Ciao Bella Luna, ridden to victory in the Beaumont by Joel Rosario, would have to be supplemented at a cost of $30,000 to run in the Kentucky Oaks.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ciao Bella Luna will attempt to duplicate what Gypsy Robin did last year, sweeping the Beaumont and Raven Run stakes, when she runs back Saturday at Keeneland for the first time since winning the Beaumont Stakes here in April.

Ciao Bella Luna is part of an oversubscribed field of 3-year-old fillies in the Grade  2, $250,000 Raven Run Stakes, the richest race remaining on Keeneland’s fall-meet stakes schedule. Only one other filly has won both the Beaumont and the Raven Run, and that was Gypsy Robin.

Wed, 10/16/2013 - 15:12

Los Alamitos: Ochoa is the best longtime trainer Gilbreath has seen

Ruidoso Downs
Ochoa has earned a berth in the Champion of Champions Dec. 14 at Los Alamitos.

In his historic career, Ochoa has won such races as the $2.4  million All American Futurity in 2011, and the $903,774 Rainbow Derby and $2.2 million All American Derby in 2012, all at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

But it was Ochoa’s performance in his California debut in Sunday’s $150,000 Los Alamitos Championship that left veteran trainer Sleepy Gilbreath and jockey Roy Baldillez amazed.

“That was one of his best races,” Baldillez said of the 4-year-old gelding. “He left there running. He ran a full race and the time was pretty fast.”

Wed, 10/16/2013 - 15:05

Belmont: Mission Approved faces tough assignment in Mohawk

Barbara D. Livingston
Mission Approved will be making his first start in nearly two years and appears unlikely to get an uncontested early lead in the Mohawk.

ELMONT, N.Y. – In the spring of 2011, Mission Approved – who had been claimed in the spring of 2010 for $35,000 – returned from an 11-month layoff to upset defending turf champion Gio Ponti in the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap at Belmont Park.

Wed, 10/16/2013 - 15:01

Tampa Bay Downs to offer million-dollar Kentucky Derby bonus

A horse that wins the 2014 Kentucky Derby following victories in the Tampa Bay Derby and Sam F. Davis Stakes will be awarded a bonus of $1 million by Tampa Bay Downs, the track announced on Wednesday.

Wed, 10/16/2013 - 14:54

Woodbine: Pierce looking for big day in Saturday stakes

Michael Burns
Hotep makes his second start off a layoff in the With Approval at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Malcolm Pierce continued his banner season here last Saturday, sending out Dance Again and Smartyfly to finish first and second in the $150,000 Carotene Stakes. Dance Again, a homebred for Sam-Son Farm, became a stakes winner in the Carotene, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies, and gave Pierce his sixth stakes win of the meeting.