ARCADIA, Calif. – The 2013 debut of Amazombie has been postponed by a quarter crack, trainer Bill Spawr said Monday at Santa Anita. Winner of the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Eclipse Award winner as outstanding sprinter, Amazombie was expected to make his first start of the season April 27 in the $125,000 Tiznow Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.
“I got behind a week, maybe 10 days, and to have him ready to go seven and a half-furlongs, I couldn’t do it,” Spawr said.
Flashback, who finished second to Goldencents in the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, was found on Sunday afternoon to have a small chip in his right knee, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday night. He is off the Kentucky Derby trail, but is expected to make a full recovery after having surgery in Kentucky with Dr. Larry Bramlage.
"There was heat in his right knee and we took X-rays and had them sent to Bramlage," Baffert said Sunday night. "He's got a chip. It's small. It's fresh. When you take it out right away they can make a full recovery."
MANHASSET, N.Y. - Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez fractured a rib on his right side and chipped a bone in his right wrist as a result of being involved in a spill Sunday at Aqueduct.
While Velazquez will not be able to ride Horse of the Year Wise Dan in his seasonal debut in Friday’s Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland, Velazquez said he hopes to be back in time to ride the Kentucky Derby.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
Luscious Lonna, a $6,250 claim in March 2012, became trainer Nick Sloan's first stakes winner as she wired a field of 11 fillies and mares, including four from trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's barn, in the $61,350 Golden Poppy at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday.
"This is the first horse I've ever had run above the claiming level," said Sloan of the first stakes entrant in his career.
Luscious Lonna ($26.80) had 4 wins and a pair of seconds in her past 6 starts against claiming and allowance company heading into the race.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Devil and a Half gave his jockey, Alex Canchari, the first stakes win of his career Sunday at Oaklawn Park, when he successfully defended his title in the $60,000 Arkansas Breeders’ Stakes. Devil and a Half won by six lengths over favorite Humble Smarty, while it was another length back in third to Presidential Colors.
The win was one of three on the card for trainer Mac Robertson.
ARCADIA, Calif. - I Dazzle won her first stakes, and gave trainer John Sadler a sweep of the first three positions, in Sunday’s $76,500 American Beauty Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita.
I Dazzle ($11.40) ran a mile in 1:33.42, outrunning the English import Moone’s My Name by a neck. Byrony was third.
In the Stars, the 1-2 favorite, was well-placed until early stretch but faded in the final furlong to finish five lengths behind I Dazzle. Little Emily finished last in the field of five.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Led by undefeated Verrazano, the top three finishers from Saturday’s $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct will all head to Churchill Downs early to begin preparing for the May 4 Kentucky Derby.
Revv Me Up caught the 43-1 outsider Feature Malinche in the final strides to win Saturday’s $200,000 La Primera Del Ano Derby for 3-year-old Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos.
The La Primera Del Ano Derby was the first stakes win for Revv Me Up and her second win in 10 starts. She won a division of the La Primera Del Ano Derby trials on March 16 after losing her first eight starts.
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Hungry Island made her return to the races a winning one at Keeneland on Sunday, passing Grade 1 winner Karlovy Vary in the stretch on the way to a one-length victory in a $68,000 turf allowance, the third race of the day.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark .- Grace Hall will be seeking the fifth graded stakes win of her career on Friday, when she breaks from post 2 in the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park. She was one of seven fillies and mares entered in the 1 1/16-mile race on Sunday.
