Four allowance races are sprinkled through a stronger-than-usual Thursday program at Aqueduct, beginning with race 2, a first-level route at 1 1/8 miles that attracted some well-bred runners.
Baker Street, a Street Cry colt who is a half-brother to dual stakes winner Global Power, is the one to catch from the rail for Kiaran McLaughlin. The 4-year-old colt made a pair of promising starts on the inner track this year, capped by a game runner-up finish when stretched out to 1 1/16 miles.
It’s the best of times for Thoroughbred racing, with Derby fever burning high.
At Golden Gate Fields, the road to 3-year-old glory begins Thursday with the first 2-year-old race of the year, which attracted six fillies competing in a two-furlong race.
Three of the runners, including the two likely favorites, will be the first runner for their sires – millionaires Idiot Proof (Frisco Fog) and In Summation (Yes), and the unraced Brave Cat (La Tonga).
ARCADIA, Calif. – Ex Lover has not raced in a year, and at age 6 she is the veteran of the field. Thursday at Santa Anita, the old flame will try again to bang out the first condition.
Ex Lover cannot be ignored in the race-7 feature, a one-mile turf race for first-condition fillies and mares. Ex Lover’s most recent start was last April 22, yet trainer Blake Heap and jockey Tyler Baze both say she is ready to fire first start back.
“On the dirt, her works are bad,” Heap said. “On the grass, she has some nice works.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine’s Canadian International and E.P. Taylor Stakes, which have been part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series since its inception in 2007, will not have Win and You’re In status this year.
The Breeders’ Cup announced its 67-race list of Win and You’re In races on Monday, and while Woodbine will host five of the events, the Canadian International and E.P. Taylor were noticeable by their absence.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – While 12 is the Keeneland record for most wins by an owner at a meet, the track offers no such record for most starts.
This spring, Ken and Sarah Ramsey appear destined to smash the record for wins – and hardly anyone could argue with Keeneland if it decided to just go ahead and declare the Ramseys’ number of starts a new mark, too.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – There is no bad pick Thursday in the $100,000 Carousel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. A case can be made for each of the nine fillies and mares in the six-furlong sprint that continues the Racing Festival of the South.
The Carousel has drawn a mix of proven stakes horses and runners in career form. Beat the Blues is the race’s defending champ, while Good Deed has invaded from Fair Grounds off a win in the Mardi Gras Handicap.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Wise Dan will break from the outside post in a field of just five older turf horses when making his first start since being named the 2012 Horse of the Year in the Grade 1, $300,000 Maker’s 46 Mile on Friday at Keeneland.
Will Take Charge, who won the Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel at Oaklawn Park in his last start March 16, will train up to the Kentucky Derby, his trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, said on Tuesday. Lukas had been debating training up to the May 4 race or running in the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass at Keeneland on Saturday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The field for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby was starting to grow Monday, with Falling Sky and Frac Daddy committing to the 1 1/8-mile race and Demonic’s connections debating a start in the Saturday stakes, which closes out the Oaklawn meet.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Rose to Gold has been nearly perfect in dirt routes in a record that should make her a strong favorite to win the fifth stakes race of her young career Wednesday in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy at Oaklawn.
The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies is Rose to Gold’s final prep for the Kentucky Oaks, the May 3 race she has been pointed to since winning last fall’s Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess.
“If all goes well, we’ll run in the Oaks,” trainer Sal Santoro said. “That’s the plan right now.”
