PHOENIX – Saturday’s $35,000 Tempe Handicap at a mile on the grass at Turf Paradise may reveal a leader among the 3-year-old males in that division. The $35,000 Scottsdale Handicap, also at a mile on grass Saturday, will showcase the undisputed leader among 3-year-old turf fillies.
The Tempe (race 5) has a field of 10, and the Scottsdale (race 8) drew 12.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – My Pal Chrisy raced against Eclipse Award winner Royal Delta in the Grade 3 Sabin Stakes at Gulfstream Park in her last start. She has an easier assignment Saturday when she faces 10 filly and mare rivals in the $50,000 Wayward Lass Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
Two extremely sharp challengers pose a threat to Eighttofasttocatch in his bid for a three-peat Saturday in the $75,000 Harrison Johnson Memorial Stakes at Laurel Park.
Koh I Noor, a winner of four straight races by a combined 22 lengths, steps up to face stakes company and attempts two turns for the first time. Javerre, winner of last month’s Grade 3 General George Handicap, makes just his second start around two turns while stretching out from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles.
Garrett Gomez will replace Julien Leparoux aboard Flashback for his next start in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 6, trainer Bob Baffert said Thursday morning at Santa Anita.
“It’s a tough decision, a very difficult decision,” Baffert said of replacing Leparoux, who had been aboard Flashback for all three of his previous starts.
Jon Court started the year riding one of the most exciting Kentucky Derby prospects in Lecomte winner Oxbow. But when Oxbow runs back Saturday in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, Court won’t be aboard. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has been given the mount, and Court will instead be on the horse’s stablemate Will Take Charge.
For most riders, losing a high-profile 3-year-old in the spring is a bitter pill to swallow. For Court, the situation is amplified. He is 52, and there are only so many more Kentucky Derbies left for him to chase.
Bilirrubina will have a Beyer Speed Figure advantage on her rivals Saturday night at Sam Houston Race Park, when she makes her two-turn debut in the $50,000 Spring. The one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies is the final stakes of the Houston meet that closes on Monday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Grade 1 winner Samitar will make her 2013 debut in Saturday’s $150,000 Honey Fox to be decided at a mile on the Gulfstream Park turf.
Samitar has not run since finishing fourth in Keeneland’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in October. She won Belmont’s Grade 1 Garden City for trainer Chad Brown in her previous start.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Shivananda Parbhoo went to Dubai for the first time last spring, sending out Giant Ryan to a creditable fifth-place finish in the Golden Shaheen. When he goes back for a second time later this month, Parbhoo will return with even more firepower, the reigning male sprint champion, Trinniberg, who will make his 2013 debut and first start since upsetting the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in the six-furlong Golden Shaheen.
Rose to Gold, who picked off the second Grade 3 win of her career in the Honeybee at Oaklawn last Saturday, could make her next start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy here April 10, trainer Sal Santoro said. Her ultimate goal remains the Kentucky Oaks.
