Louisiana-based trainer Shane Wilson aimed a good portion of his stable to races early in the Fair Grounds meet, before Kentucky stables fully settled in for the winter. That proved a successful plan, but Wilson hardly has slowed through late December into January. Since Dec. 15, Wilson’s 12 winners are the most among Fair Grounds trainers, and through Sunday he held a commanding lead in the trainer standings, 24 to 11 over Brad Cox.
Track Phantom had his first timed workout since capturing the Gun Runner Stakes on Dec. 23 at Fair Grounds when he breezed five furlongs in 1:02 on Sunday.
Track Phantom, a Quality Road colt trained by Steve Asmussen, ran well losing a pair of one-turn miles to begin his career before winning a two-turn maiden at Churchill and the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner, where he contested a taxing pace and held solidly for a 1 1/4-length victory. Asmussen has said since the day after the Gun Runner that he plans to run Track Phantom in the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 20 at Fair Grounds.
Honor Marie, the eye-catching winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in his 2-year-old finale Nov. 25, moved forward in his work pattern over the weekend, going a half-mile Sunday in 49.20 seconds. The breeze was Honor Marie’s second since returning to the work tab with an easy three furlongs on Dec. 31. Honor Marie had a light December after shipping to Fair Grounds, trainer Whit Beckman said, and remains on schedule for his 3-year-old debut Feb. 17 in the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes.
Empressum will attempt to turn the tables on stablemate Flash Bak on Sunday in the Grade 1, $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park. The 440-yard race for Quarter Horses also drew $3 million earner Kj Desparado.
Flash Bak was a three-quarter length winner over reigning world champion Empressum in the Grade 1 Champion of Champions on Dec. 9 at Los Alamitos. Flash Bak, sent off at 9-1, and won from the rail in the field of 10. Empressum was the favorite after dominating the 2022 Champion of Champions.
Dreamfyre and Nothing Like You were two of the prominent nominees for Sunday’s Grade 3 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita. They were not among the five fillies entered, but could run in stakes as soon as February, their respective trainers said.
Nothing Like You has won three straight races, most recently the Grade 2 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos on Dec. 9. She was held out of the $100,000 Santa Ynez Stakes at seven furlongs in favor of longer races, trainer Bob Baffert said.
Eddie Truman, a fixture among Southern California trainers for 50 years, has retired.
Truman, 76, had his final runner at Los Alamitos on Dec. 17, and won most recently at Santa Anita in June.
His retirement, announced on Thursday through Santa Anita’s publicity department, ends a career that includes 763 wins.
A former jockey, Truman had his best year as a trainer in 1980, winning 53 races, including stakes at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona with Damas and Marble Court.
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.
