After eight stakes last Friday and Saturday, the hits keep on coming Thursday at Belmont Park, with a trio of overnight stakes for the female set.
The $90,000 Lotka, race 3, marks the return of My Happy Face, who has not run since a runner-up finish to Kauai Katie in the Jan. 26 Forward Gal Stakes and makes her first start for trainer Chad Brown.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - If something doesn’t look quite right with the past-performances of a mare named Teroda in the seventh race Thursday at Churchill Downs, well, there’s an explanation.
Teroda was claimed for $62,500 from her last start, at Keeneland on April 6, by Agave Racing Stable and trainer Michelle Lovell after finishing fourth for owner John Stuart and trainer Kellyn Gorder.
In the interim, after a mandatory 30-day period had passed, Stuart bought the mare back from Agave, according to Gorder.
“He wanted her back, and they were willing to sell,” Gorder said.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A win by Congenial on Thursday at Betfair Hollywood Park would be the first West Coast win in nearly six years for Midwest trainer Cody Autrey.
Chances are it would not be his last.
Oaklawn Park-based Autrey has relocated his entire stable to California for a six-month stay through fall. Congenial, a gelding by Pulpit, gives Autrey a winning chance in race 6, a second-level optional $62,500 claiming race on the main track. Congenial is expected to set the pace in the 1 1/8-mile race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine’s Barn 1 was under a voluntary quarantine Tuesday, pending the results of a necropsy on a filly who died in her stall Monday morning.
The body of the horse, an unraced 2-year-old filly trained by Tom O’Keefe, was sent to the nearby University of Guelph’s veterinary clinic.
“Yesterday morning, when I came in, she was just standing in the middle of her stall,” O’Keefe said. “It looked like she hadn’t moved all night, and she hadn’t touched any of her food or water.
MIAMI – R Free Roll was the star of last Saturday’s Summit of Speed Preview show at Calder. A 3-year-old filly by Rockport Harbor, R Free Roll took on the boys in the six-furlong Unbridled Stakes and ran them off their feet, sprinting to a 6 3/4-length triumph while earning a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. Her final time of 1:10.19 was .09 of a second faster than Black Diamond Cat covered the same distance winning the day’s main event, the Ponche for older horses.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The top would-be challenger to Eclipse champion Royal Delta in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap was withdrawn from consideration Tuesday morning when trainer Gary “Red Dog” Hartlage reported that On Fire Baby had been transported to a Lexington equine clinic the previous night after spiking a high fever in her stall at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Garry Simms entered Blueeyesintherein against older mares in the Grade 3 Winning Colors Stakes last month at Churchill Downs. But upon further review, the trainer scratched the standout 3-year-old filly.
“I think she would’ve run big in it,” Simms said. “But I didn’t want to see her run second or third. I’m trying to keep her on a winning track. I’m just trying to take the easiest route home.”
Two California-bred standouts highlighted last weekend’s Golden Gate Fields racing.
Not surprisingly, Surfcup shined in an odds-on victory in the Silky Sullivan on turf Sunday.
The Bob Baffert-trained son of Unusual Heat scored his second straight Cal-bred stakes victory, having won the Snow Chief at Betfair Hollywood Park in April. He has four wins and a third in seven career starts and is 3 for 3 on the grass.
Heading into his final week as general manager at Golden Gate Fields before assuming a new role with the Thoroughbred Owners of California, Joe Morris is whipping and driving to the finish line like Johnny Longden aboard George Royal in his last race as a jockey.
“It’s been a great meet,” said Morris, who has helped revitalize the track in his two-year stint as general manager. “Field size and handle are up, even though attendance is down a bit.”
The Golden Gate meet began Dec. 26 and ends Sunday.
Go Blue or Go Home took advantage of an early speed duel to win the $100,000 Karl Boyes Memorial at Presque Isle Downs on Monday evening under Paco Lopez.
Dazzled Saint was away quickly from the gate in the 5 1/2-furlong race and set the pace with favorite Sum of the Parts pressing in second early. Those two and Grand Old Game hooked up on the turn while Go Blue or Go Home sat in behind the dueling leaders. Lopez swung his mount out and he accelerated to post a two-length win for Woodbine-based trainer Reade Baker.
