Antonio Fresu is targeting a return to riding at Santa Anita on Feb. 6, nearly six weeks after he suffered a foot injury in a turf sprint on Dec. 28.
Fresu sustained a broken toe and severe cut on his left foot when his mount, Anmer Hall, struck the inside rail on the hillside turf course. Initially, Fresu hoped to return to riding this weekend but opted to delay his comeback another week.
“I took a week extra to feel more comfortable,” he said on Friday.
The Withers and three other listed stakes races at Aqueduct that were originally scheduled for Saturday, a card canceled due to extreme cold, will now be run on Feb. 6, the New York Racing Association announced Friday afternoon.
Entries for the $200,000 Withers, $150,000 Toboggan, $135,000 Ruthless, and $135,000 Ladies were to be taken on Saturday. Those four stakes will be joined on the Friday, Feb. 6 card by the $135,000 Interborough, a race that had originally been scheduled for Jan. 24 but was scrapped when that card was canceled due to weather.
Laurel Park has canceled the remainder of its Friday card and will also postpone racing on Saturday and Sunday due to “frigid temperatures,” as extreme cold and wind chill has again led to unsafe racing conditions.
Officials made the decision to cancel the Friday card after the first race, a claiming race won by Weekend Wife and jockey Andres Chavez. The same 10-race card was originally supposed to run last Saturday but was postponed for the same reason.
Trainer Steve Asmussen reported that the talented Magnitude traveled beautifully through a five-furlong team workout Thursday morning at Fair Grounds. The real traveling, though, begins Sunday, when Magnitude ships from Louisiana to Florida, and then, the next day, boards a flight bound for Saudi Arabia. His destination: the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 14.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dale Romans will be hard on the campaign trail this spring trying to win a Senate seat for the state of Kentucky. He’s also hoping he might be on the Kentucky Derby trail at the same time, a dream that gained some momentum here Thursday when Rockies Balboa ran off to an impressive five-length allowance victory in a race restricted to Florida-breds going seven furlongs on the main track.
The scheduled Saturday and Sunday cards at Aqueduct have been canceled due to the extreme cold that continues its grip on the Northeast, the New York Racing Association announced late Thursday afternoon.
Saturday’s 10-race card was to consist of four stakes, topped by the $200,000 Withers, a Kentucky Derby points-scoring race. No make-up dates for that race or the other three stakes on the program – the Ruthless, Ladies, and Toboggan – were announced. NYRA also needs to find a new date for the Interborough Stakes, a race previously scheduled for Jan. 24.
Ted Noffey, the undefeated 2-year-old champion male of 2025, is off the Triple Crown trail after developing bone bruising, his connections announced Thursday afternoon.
The horse will be stopped on for 90 days and convalesce at Stonestreet Farm in Ocala, Fla.
“I wasn’t happy the way he was moving the last couple of days, sent him for evaluation, and he’s got some bone bruising,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We’re going to give him 90 days off and hopefully have him back for Saratoga.
Jockey Umberto Rispoli is scheduled to undergo a second ankle surgery in less than a week at a South Florida hospital on Friday to stabilize an injury sustained when he was unseated in a turf sprint at Gulfstream Park last Saturday.
Friday’s operation will also address a fracture to Rispoli’s fibula, according to his agent, Matt Nakatani.
“He’s going to have surgery tomorrow morning and then is looking to come home early next week,” Nakatani said on Thursday. “We knew there would be a second operation. The good thing is the doctors are very happy with things so far.”
Motorious, winner of the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap for turf sprinters at Del Mar the last three summers, is under consideration for the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai on March 28.
“Dubai is on the table,” trainer Phil D’Amato said earlier this week. “I’ll take a strong look at Dubai if he’s training well.”
The $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint is run at six furlongs on a straightaway course.
Owned by Tony Fanticola, Motorious has won six stakes in a 25-race career that includes 10 overall wins and earnings of $988,104.
Shisospicy, the champion female sprinter of 2025, will miss a scheduled start in the 1351 Turf Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh on Feb. 14 due to a skin infection, trainer Jose D’Angelo said Thursday.
The BloodHorse was the first to report Shisopicy would miss the race.
D’Angelo said that he noted the infection on Tuesday and would likely back off her training for one week while it clears up.
