Action at the claim box was brisk through the first four days of the meet, with 20 horses being claimed for $585,000.
On Saturday, there was an 18-way shake for Velvet Cap, runner-up in race 11, who went to Rick Schosberg. There was a 12-way shake for that race’s winner, Road Agent, who went to Jamie Ness.
As a product of Grade 1 winners A.P. Indy and Island Sand, expectations probably were pretty high for Martini Brother when trainer Nick Zito and owner Len Riggio had him.
But, unable to succeed on the flat, Martini Brother seems to have found a home as a steeplechaser, and on Thursday, he’ll seek his third straight win in the $75,000 Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes at 2 1/16 miles over national fences.
Trainer James Iselin is hoping the “real Willet” will show up on Thursday when the New York-bred filly makes her second start of the year in the $100,000 Lottsa Talc Stakes, the co-feature on Thursday’s 10-race program at Saratoga.
DEL MAR, Calif. – When trainer Ron Ellis brought Centralinteligence off a long layoff earlier this year, he used two races as preps for the main goal, and saw it all pay off with a victory in the Grade 1 Triple Bend Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park.
Ellis is desirous of similar results with another of his sprinters, Majestic City, who makes his third start off a layoff in the Grade 1, $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Ian Wilkes didn’t like what he saw when Fort Larned worked five furlongs in 1:03 and change here last Saturday, so he wheeled the defending Breeders’ Cup Classic champion back out three days later and got the results he was looking for – and then some – as Fort Larned breezed five panels in 1:01.20 over a sloppy track Tuesday.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Goldencents left California for the Kentucky Derby in late April as the state's leading 3-year-old, weeks removed from a sharp win in the Santa Anita Derby.
He returned less than a month later as an afterthought in the division. A 17th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby on May 4 and a fifth in the Preakness Stakes on May 18 left Goldencents without standing among the nation's 3-year-olds.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When it comes to Preakness winner Oxbow, trainer D. Wayne Lukas hopes that by doing less with him in the morning, he’ll get more out of him in the afternoon.
When Oxbow returns to the races in Sunday’s $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, he will look conspicuous by his absence from the work tab. In fact, Oxbow will show just one published workout – a five-furlong move in 1:02 on July 6 at Churchill Downs – in between the Belmont Stakes and the Haskell, a span of 50 days.
The top two finishers in the Grade 3 Arlington Oaks last Saturday at Arlington Park, My Option and Frivolous, could have a rematch in the $75,000 Hatoof Stakes on the Aug. 17 Arlington Million undercard.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Sensing the competition in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes could be a bit salty, trainer Randy Morse is likely to change course literally and figuratively with No Distinction, who is entered in Thursday’s $100,000 Quick Call Stakes for 3-year-olds going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Saratoga.
DEL MAR, Calif. – To this point in his career, No Silent has raced exclusively on turf. But the combination of having an intended start canceled at Betfair Hollywood Park, plus a recent sharp work on Polytrack here at Del Mar, convinced trainer Gary Mandella it was worth giving No Silent a shot on the main track in Thursday’s featured seventh race, a 6 1/2-furlong money allowance that carries an $85,000 purse.
