Sat, 05/25/2013 - 16:57

Churchill Downs: Fort Larned breezes

Tom Keyser
Fort Larned is pointing to the June 15 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, KY. - Fort Larned, the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, had his third workout since his disappointing run in the Oaklawn Handicap, breezing five furlongs Friday at Churchill Downs in 59.80 seconds.

Fort Larned is pointing to the June 15 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill and ultimately a return to the BC Classic at Santa Anita in early November.

“This is like a restart for the year for us,” said trainer Ian Wilkes. “We had a couple hiccups earlier this year and now we are looking to restart our year and point everything to the Breeders’ Cup.”

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 16:29

Parx: Winning Image takes My Juliet for second time

Equi-Photo
Winning Image, with Jose Caraballo aboard, captures the six-furlong My Juliet by 2 1/4 lengths.

Three early scratches left Winning Image as the lone speed in a three-horse field and she proceeded to capitalize on that advantage to capture the $75,000 My Juliet Stakes at Parx Racing for the second straight year on Saturday.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 16:13

Woodbine: I'm a Kittyhawk wins stakes debut in Lady Angela

Michael Burns
I'm a Kittyhawk wins the Lady Angela Stakes by a half-length over Rootham Triple E's at Woodbine on Saturday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – I’m a Kittyhawk won her stakes debut at Woodbine on Saturday, taking the $125,000 Lady Angela as the second-longest shot on the board with a fine ride from David Moran.

Moran rated I’m a Kittyhawk in midpack during the seven-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies. She split horses at the quarter pole and then wore down the leading Rootham Triple E’s in deep stretch for a half-length score in 1:23.82.

Pipers Future finished four lengths behind the winner in third, 1 1/2 lengths clear of the 3-5 favorite, Strut the Course.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:51

Belmont Park: Midnight Lucky, Kauai Katie meet in Acorn

Barbara D. Livingston
Midnight Lucky, fifth in the Kentucky Oaks on May 3, gets another shot at a Grade 1 victory in the Acorn Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – As impressive as Midnight Lucky had trained leading up to the Kentucky Oaks, it simply might have been too much to ask for her to win a race like that in her third career start.

Having seemingly emerged from her fifth-place finish in the Oaks in good order, Midnight Lucky will get another Grade 1 opportunity in Monday’s $300,000 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park.

Midnight Lucky, one of six 3-year-old fillies entered in the one-turn, one-mile Acorn, will seek to give trainer Bob Baffert his third victory in this race in the last five years.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:46

Emerald Downs: Front-runners Dream Caller, Roarified hard to separate

AUBURN, Wash. – A $10,000 claimer for fillies and mares will serve as the featured race Monday at Emerald Downs. First post for the nine-race card is 2 p.m. Pacific.

Front-runners Dream Caller and Roarified are likely to attract the most interest among the seven entrants in the six-furlong feature.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:44

Lone Star: Master Rick, Prayer for Relief give Asmussen pair of aces for Handicap

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Steve Asmussen has left few prizes unclaimed at his home track of Lone Star Park, where he ranks as the all-time winningest trainer with 1,043 local victories and $23 million in stable earnings. But one major stakes has eluded Asmussen, and on Monday he appears primed to win his first Lone Star Park Handicap.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:27

Mountaineer Park: Full fields make for interesting turf allowances Tuesday

Two full fields of turf sprinters – all seeking their second lifetime victory and most with little or no experience racing on grass – make for a difficult early daily double Tuesday evening at Mountaineer Park.

The first two races on a nine-race card that begins at 7 p.m. Eastern are seven-furlong allowances for nonwinners of two lifetime. Handicappers looking for a simplistic approach might do well by keying the two horses trained by J. Michael Baird – R. J. Says in the opener and Rocko’s Gizmo in race 3.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:18

Belmont Stakes: Golden Soul has workout delayed

Barbara D. Livingston
Golden Soul has been galloping steadily since the Kentucky Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Dallas Stewart decided on Saturday to wait at least one more day to breeze his Kentucky Derby runner-up Golden Soul.

[BELMONT STAKES: Probable field and latest updates]

Golden Soul has been training steadily, but has not breezed, since finishing 2 1/2 lengths behind Orb in the May 4 Derby. Stewart has been hesitant to commit to a specific date for a workout, which he said “will be a real easy-half mile anyway. The horse is doing great in his gallops every day.”

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:16

Belmont: Some space between Joyful Victory, Believe You Can in Phipps Handicap

Shigeki Kikkawa
Joyful Victory, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Margarita in March, will run May 27 in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Despite there being only six horses in the race, trainer Larry Jones had some trepidation before post positions were drawn for Monday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park.

Running two horses with similar running styles – Grade 1 winners Joyful Victory and Believe You Can – Jones did not want the two front-runners next to each other.

So, Jones was quite pleased when Joyful Victory drew the rail and Believe You Can post 6 in the Phipps.

Sat, 05/25/2013 - 15:07

Belmont Park: Watsdachances has score to settle in Sands Point Stakes

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
After running an impressive second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Watsdachances received a winter freshening.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Watsdachances, beaten at odds-on by Unbelievable Dream in the Appalachian Stakes last month, will look to even the score in Monday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point Stakes at Belmont Park.

The 19th running of the Sands Point, scheduled for the inner turf at 1 1/16 miles, drew six 3-year-old fillies for turf, along with main-track-only entrant Fusaichiswonderful. It is carded as the seventh of 11 races, and is the first leg of an all-stakes pick four with a $500,000 guaranteed pool. Post time is 4:13  p.m. Eastern.