ELMONT, N.Y. - Casiguapo, runner-up to Strong Mandate in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga on closing day, worked a sharp five furlongs in 1:00.17 Thursday morning over Belmont Park’s main track as he prepares for the Grade 1 Champagne here on Oct. 5.
With jockey Luis Saez in the irons, Casiguapo went his first quarter in 24.61 seconds and his last quarter in 23.95 while galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.07, seven furlongs in 1:26.66, and a mile in 1:41.25.
Service for Ten began his career among the lowliest horses in Maryland, debuting in September 2011 in a $10,000 maiden claimer. Saturday, the 4-year-old gelding will line up for the richest sprint race in Maryland, the $350,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Owner and trainer Alec Fehr, whose Ultimate Destiny had been declared a non-starter when the stewards ruled that his gate opened prematurely prior to the start of the Aug. 3 Seagram Cup at Woodbine, won his appeal of that decision at an Ontario Racing Commission hearing Thursday.
ELMONT, N.Y. – When Paris Vegas and Tetradrachm finished second and third in last month’s Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga, the soft ground may have helped the former while inhibiting the latter.
Saturday, those two head a field of nine entered in the $100,000 Who’s to Pay Stakes at Belmont Park, where the turf figures to be a bit firmer than it was in Saratoga, giving Tetradrachm the ability to turn the tables.
Prior to the Bernard Baruch, Tetradrachm won a third-level allowance race by three lengths over next-out winner Set the Sail over firm Saratoga turf.
If six-time stakes winner Sittin At the Bar can win her turf debut in the $150,000 Elge Rasberry at Louisiana Downs on Saturday, there’s more than just a first-place check of $90,000 awaiting her connections. There’s also a $100,000 bonus to be paid to her owner, Dale Ladner.
Sittin At the Bar is attempting to become the first horse to claim the Bayou State Bonus that was introduced by the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association in 2006. It is available to male and female graduates of the organization’s annual yearling auction who can sweep designated races.
POMONA, Calif. – The final Saturday of racing at the Los Angeles County Fair is the last easy chance for Curly Top or Tree of Life to win a stakes.
Curly Top and Tree of Life are key players in the $50,000 Pomona Derby for 3-year-olds, race 11 on the Barretts at Fairplex card. In the $50,000 Las Madrinas Handicap for fillies and mares, race 9, Toomanytomatoes faces Ruby Pumps. Both races are at 1 1/16 miles.
Curly Top finished seventh at Del Mar his most recent start, with an alibi. Trainer Bob Baffert accurately described the colt’s trip. “It was horrible,” he said.
Like last year, the story line entering the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby is a rematch of two Travers horses. And like last year, the story line coming out of Saturday’s $1 million Pennsylvania Derby could be about a California shipper who stole the money.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The $100,000 Deputy Jane West, a new six-furlong overnight stakes for 2-year-old fillies, failed to create a rush to the entry box as just five entrants heeded the call. But the Deputy Jane West still is a contentious event, and recent maiden winner Dulcify could be a mild upsetter Saturday.
Dulcify, a Kentucky-bred owned by Wendy O’Leary and trained by Norm McKnight, was making her fourth career start when she won a five-furlong maiden race here Aug. 4.
West Virginia-bred star Lucy’s Bob Boy will make a rare stakes appearance against open company in Saturday night’s $85,000 Wild and Wonderful, one of nine supporting stakes on a Race for the Ribbon 13-race card at Charles Town headlined by the $400,000 Researcher and the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After Dance to Bristol left Saratoga with her second stakes victory of the meet in the Grade 1 Ballerina, trainer Ollie Figgins III figured his filly’s next engagement would be a tad easier.
Not so much.
When Dance to Bristol seeks her eighth consecutive victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont Park, she will face a group that includes Grade 1 winner Dance Card, the undefeated Grade 2 winner Cluster of Stars, and the recent sharp overnight stakes winner Holiday Soiree.
