INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Fiftyshadesofhay, the winner of the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico on May 17, will miss Saturday’s $150,000 Hollywood Oaks at Betfair Hollywood Park because of a foot abscess.
Trainer Bob Baffert said the condition of the foot improved after the abscess was relieved, but that Fiftyshadesofhay was not entered for Saturday’s race.
“I had a setback with her,” Baffert said Wednesday. “She’s doing better, but I don’t want it to develop into a quarter crack.”
AUBURN, Wash. – A one-mile, $12,500 claimer for older horses who have yet to win three times will serve as the feature race Friday at Emerald Downs, and with five of the eight entrants trying a two-turn distance for the first time, handicappers could have their hands full trying to pick a winner. First post for the seven-race card is 6:45 p.m. Pacific.
Atigun finished third in the 2012 Belmont Stakes. He was fourth in the Travers Stakes and had the lead before folding up late in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon last fall.
This spring, Atigun was switched from dirt to turf, and on May 25, he was a close second in the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap. But for all the good he has done – and Atigun’s bankroll stands at nearly a half-million dollars – Atigun still has not won a stakes race, a void on his résumé he’ll seek to fill Saturday at Colonial Downs in the Grade 2, $300,000 Colonial Turf Cup.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The highest-class fare on an appealing nine-race late-afternoon Friday card at Arlington is race 3, a multiple-conditions, high-end turf allowance with an $80,000 claiming option. But the highest-class fare is not always the tastiest, and race 3 might be viewed as an appetizer course to race 4, a second-level Polytrack sprint allowance also open to $40,000 claimers.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Friday’s wide-open Woodbine feature could belong to the Sam-Son Farm homebred Checkered Past. She will compete without the optional-claiming tag of $75,000 in the allowance for 3-year-old fillies, which is scheduled for a mile on the grass.
First post for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and holiday Monday cards has been rolled back to 12:50 p.m., beginning this Friday.
Checkered Past has started three times for trainer Malcolm Pierce. She was a prominent third in her Feb. 23 debut on dirt at Fair Grounds.
Trainer Ron Grieves was a bit surprised when he was informed Quincy Welch wouldn’t be able to ride 7-5 morning-line favorite Call Me Lou in a nonwinners-of-three allowance race that serves as Friday’s feature at Northlands Park. Instead, Welch will ride the long-absent Northern Yankee in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint that drew six horses and goes as the second race.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Craig MacPherson is trying to figure out the best way to get Bluegrass Pride to the Grade 3, $150,000 British Columbia Derby in peak shape. The most important race at Hastings won’t be run until Sept. 8, but early nominations closed last Saturday with 46 horses.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Like many horsemen, Ron Moquett is always on the lookout for new stock to buy on behalf of his clients. His latest private purchase is Silver Valley, a 2-year-old filly who will get a stern test for class Saturday night at Churchill Downs when she runs under new colors in the $100,000 Debutante Stakes.
“I saw her break her maiden at Lone Star Park and just made a phone call,” said Moquett, who bought Silver Valley for owner Ted Bowman.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The brilliant but fragile sprinter Kinsale King returns to racing following a 21-month layoff in a five-furlong allowance race on turf at Betfair Hollywood Park on Friday.
Quarter cracks have plagued the 8-year-old in recent years, limiting him to 15 career starts and forcing owner Patrick Sheehy and trainer Carl O’Callaghan to take a patient approach. O’Callaghan says he is just content to see the gelding racing again.
“It will be a big day,” O’Callaghan said. “It will be good to have him back. You don’t see too many horses come back at that age.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – It has taken until Day 40 of the 56-day Belmont spring/summer meet for an open-company 2-year-old race to fill. On Friday, there is a pair of juvenile races, one for males and one for females, that highlight a Party at the Park nine-race card that begins at 3 p.m.
In 2012, trainer Todd Pletcher won 66 races restricted to 2-year-olds, and the first juvenile he ran in New York, Shanghai Bobby, went undefeated, won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and was voted champion juvenile male.
