Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Paynter had not started on a synthetic track. He raced on a synthetic track when winning an allowance race at Betfair Hollywood Park on June 14.
Paynter, who was severely ill with colitis and laminitis last summer and fall and then returned to win his comeback in an allowance race at Hollywood Park on June 14, is not expected to start again at the current meeting.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Tammy Fox, a key employee in the far-flung Dale Romans stable, will be out of action in the coming weeks after suffering an ankle fracture in a recent morning training accident.
Fox was thrown from a horse June 11 and “landed on her feet,” said Romans, the 2012 Eclipse Award winner for top trainer. “But she landed in an awkward position and broke the ankle.”
Fox, a former jockey, is the life partner of Romans. They have two children together.
Goldencents, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby in April, will revert to sprints later this summer after disappointing performances in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
Earlier this spring, trainer Doug O’Neill said that the $500,000 King’s Bishop Stakes over seven furlongs for 3-year-olds at Saratoga on Aug. 24 is a long-term goal for Goldencents. O’Neill is now planning for a potential prep race for Goldencents in the $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes over six furlongs at Del Mar on July 28.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Trainer Tom Amoss said he is unsure of the next start for Free World, a wire-to-wire winner of the $207,600 Centaur Stakes on the Indiana Downs turf last Saturday evening.
Owned by Maggi Moss, Free World now has won four straight races, all of them in front-running fashion, and 5 of his last 6. A son of Stormy Atlantic, he was the 8-5 favorite in the one-mile Centaur and finished two lengths clear of another Churchill Downs-based 3-year-old, War Dancer.
“All I know is we’ll keep him on the grass,” Amoss said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - No Distinction, a two-time allowance winner at the Churchill Downs meet, could make his next start in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes on July 28 at Saratoga, trainer Randy Morse said.
A 3-year-old Florida-bred colt with 3 wins from 4 starts, No Distinction already has posted several big Beyer Speed Figures, including a 100 in a maiden win at Oaklawn Park in April. He is owned by the Iron Horse Racing of David Clark.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Texas Bling is scheduled to return to the track Monday at Lone Star Park to begin serious preparations for the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby. He has been freshened since Oaklawn’s meet ended in April after finishing second in the $150,000 Smarty Jones, fourth in the Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel, and eighth in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.
ELMONT, N.Y. – When Bill Mott watches Close Hatches train, he firmly believes there’s a big race with her name on it.
“She’ll break your watch in the morning,” Mott said this week. “Usually, in time, those kind eventually will get it together and show it in the afternoon.”
While Close Hatches did win the Grade 2 Gazelle over subsequent Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar, she’ll need to have it all together Saturday when she faces Dreaming of Julia in the Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – After 11 straight stakes appearances, My Adonis launches his comeback in a $46,000 third-level allowance on Friday at Monmouth Park.
The one mile and 70-yard race drew seven entrants, including two – Playing a Joke and Ponzi Scheme – running for the optional $50,000 claiming price.
My Adonis is the most interesting name in the lineup. This will be the season debut for the 4-year-old, a homebred for George and Lori Hall trained by Kelly Breen.
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.
