SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – Govenor Charlie was set to return to California on Tuesday following his victory here Sunday in the Sunland Derby, a race that earned him enough points to secure a starting berth in the Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs and ended the round of Derby preps worth 50 points to the winner.
The waters get even deeper now.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - One of the most high-profile residents of the backstretch this winter is Marketing Mix, the Glen Hill Farm star who finished second in a photo behind Eclipse Award winner Zagora in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
Marketing Mix hasn’t seen action since that race in November but recently went back into training here and posted her third work Saturday when she went a half-mile in 49.20 seconds over the main track.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – As the race meet at Tampa Bay Downs moves into its final six weeks, the Ness Express continues to chug toward another local training title.
Through Sunday’s racing, horses trained by Jamie Ness have won 39 races, 11 more than the runners of Jorge Navarro, and the stable continues to win races at a staggering 36 percent clip. Barring any late-season collapse, the Ness barn will wind up atop the trainer standings for the seventh straight season. (He shared the title in 2009-10 with Kathleeen O’Connell and in 2010-11 with Gerald Bennett.)
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – It was her first race against winners, around two turns, in a stakes race, and away from her home.
And it all mattered not a bit.
In a crushing performance that stamped her as one of the elite candidates for the Kentucky Oaks on May 4, the dazzling 3-year-old filly Midnight Lucky rolled to an eight-length win in track-record time on Sunday when defeating seven outmatched rivals in the $200,000 Sunland Park Oaks.
“Oh my God,” jockey Rafael Bejarano said after dismounting.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – Completing a blockbuster day at Sunland Park for trainer Bob Baffert, owner Mike Pegram, and the sire Midnight Lute, Govenor Charlie cruised to a five-length victory on Sunday in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby.
A little more than a half-hour earlier, Baffert and Pegram scored in the Sunland Park Oaks with the filly Midnight Lucky, like Govenor Charlie progeny of Midnight Lute.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
Isn’t He Clever set a track record for 6 1/2 furlongs at Sunland Park on Sunday, when he won the $75,000 Bill Thomas Memorial in 1:13.45. He powered home by 5 3/4 lengths over Warren’s Knockout, to lower the mark of 1:13.95 that Happy Humor set on Feb. 15, 2009.
The Bill Thomas Memorial was one of seven stakes on the Sunland Derby Day card. Together the races were worth a cumulative $1.4 million. The program was the richest of the meet at Sunland Park, the New Mexico track located just across the border from El Paso, Texas.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Tiz Flirtatious showed on Sunday that she is more than just an outstanding California-bred.
After winning three stakes for statebreds in the last 16 months, and finishing second or third in three graded stakes, Tiz Flirtatious won her first graded stakes in the $150,250 Santa Ana Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita.
“This was overdue,” trainer Marty Jones said.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jan’s Perfect Star improved her career record to 2 for 2 on Sunday, when she cruised to a 3 3/4-length win over Bag the Storm in the $60,000 Arkansas Breeders’ at Oaklawn Park. It was another six lengths back in third to Indian Bluff.
Calidoscopio, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Marathon here last November, finished fifth in Saturday’s Tokyo City Cup despite grabbing a quarter in training the previous day, trainer Mike Puype said.
Puype said Calidoscopio was evaluated and a decision made that he was capable of running.
“I thought we’d done enough” treatment, Puype said. “I would have scratched him if I didn’t think he was good.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Hear the Ghost, the winner of the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 9, worked six furlongs in 1:13.60 at Betfair Hollywood Park on Sunday, continuing his preparation for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 6.
“It looks like we’re right on schedule,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. “He galloped out strongly.”
