Before Newgate was sidelined with an injury last February, he was rated as one of trainer Bob Baffert’s leading 3-year-olds of 2023.
The focus has changed to a 4-year-old campaign that begins when Newgate runs for the first time in 11 months in an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Saturday.
“It’s a starting point,” Baffert said on Friday. “He’s not a sprinter, but it’s a good race to come back. It will set up for down the road.”
Honor Marie, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 25, had his first workout since shipping to Fair Grounds when he breezed three furlongs in 37.20 on Dec. 31.
Trainer Whit Beckman said several weeks ago that Honor Marie would work around the first of the year, meaning the colt has kept to his intended schedule. A natural starting point for his 3-year-old campaign would be the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 17.
New Orleans might be the least American-feeling city in America. Perhaps it’s not mere coincidence that several overseas jockeys have come to Fair Grounds for their first extended stint in the United States. Ireland native James Graham began the North American phase of his career riding the 2003-04 meet. England-born Adam Beschizza began riding in America during the 2017-18 meet. And while France native Vincent Cheminaud only began taking mounts at Keeneland’s April meeting in 2022, he showed up in late February at Fair Grounds to start working horses.
Though trainer Ed Barker won two races on Thursday’s card at Aqueduct, it was still a bad week for the veteran trainer.
On Tuesday, Strat Mo Matic, a son of Uncle Mo who won his debut for Barker on Dec. 16, fractured both sesamoids in his right front foreleg during a routine gallop and had to be euthanized.
“Talent-wise, he was probably the best 2-year-old I ever had … I never had a horse like him,” said Barker, who was also part-owner of Strat Mo Matic. Danny Chen, Campbell Road Stables, and Kenneth Abeles also owned Strat Mo Matic.
Jockey Umberto Rispoli, who through Monday was tied for second in the jockey’s standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, was denied an appeal on Wednesday of a four-day suspension that will begin on Saturday.
Rispoli was cited for his ride on Mo Fox Givin, who finished third in the $102,000 Blue Norther Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on turf on Dec. 29. According to a ruling published by stewards Luis Jauregui, David Nuesch, and Kim Sawyer the following day, Rispoli was cited for failing to maintain a straight course and careless riding.
Trainer Brendan Galvin plans to relocate his 25-horse stable from Golden Gate Fields to Santa Anita later this month, a decision he said on Thursday was pushed forward by several months because of a recent purse cut at the Northern California track.
Golden Gate Fields, which is scheduled for permanent closure in June, reduced overnight purses approximately 25 percent at the start of the track’s current winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26 because of a purse overpayment of more than $3 million accrued in recent years.
All-sources handle at the 31-day Aqueduct fall meeting that concluded Sunday was $237,230,344, up 9.1 percent from the $217,379,882 handled at the 29-day Aqueduct fall meeting in 2022, according to figures provided by the New York Racing Association.
The average daily handle of $7,652,595 at the 2023 fall meet, was up 2.1 percent over the $7,495,858 average daily handle at the 2022 fall stand.
Ontrack handle at the 2023 fall meet was $21,200,308, up 4.8 percent from the 2022 fall figure of $20,236,438.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The first invitation lists for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf were released Wednesday topped by a couple of horses coming off huge efforts in the Breeders’ Cup.
Dirt Mile runner-up National Treasure and Mile winner Master of The Seas headline the respective lists although the latter is not under consideration for the Turf. The Pegasus World Cup program, which also includes the $500,000 Filly and Mare Turf, will be run Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park.
Sunlit Song has been a constant force on the Texas racing scene for years and his presence in Friday night’s seventh race at Sam Houston Race Park is one of the highlights of the meet’s season opener. Sam Houston’s meet will extend for 43 dates, through April 7.
Sunlit Song is an 18-time winner who has earned more than $700,000. The 9-year-old has earned championship titles from the Texas Thoroughbred Association and is coming off his second win in Oklahoma’s richest offering for turf runners, the Remington Park Green.
Sunland Park opens its meet Friday with notable changes to its racing calendar and stakes schedule that places both the $100,000 New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap and $65,000 KLAQ Handicap on the first card of the 55-date season. The meet runs through April 7.
