ARCADIA, Calif. – One year ago at Santa Anita, horses trained by Jerry Hollendorfer had a tough time finding the winner’s circle. This year, the winner’s circle is practically a second home.
Hollendorfer won only 7 races from 71 starters last winter at Santa Anita as he and assistant Dan Ward toiled through a forgettable season.
Sister Ginger, who earned 10 points toward the Kentucky Oaks with her win in the $75,000 Martha Washington last Saturday at Oaklawn, is being pointed to the track’s next race for the division, the Grade 3, $150,000 Honeybee on March 9, trainer Steve Asmussen said.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Bob Baffert, who last year swept Oaklawn’s graded series for 3-year-olds, said Super Ninety Nine is scheduled to ship to Arkansas for Monday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest. The horse breezed a half-mile in 47.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Tuesday and is due to arrive Thursday aboard at Tex Sutton flight from Southern California.
Golden Gate Fields is preparing for its biggest weekend of the year, a three-day splurge that includes two stakes, featuring the track’s signature race, the Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby, a $100,000-guaranteed pick four on Saturday and two dollar days.
Purses for non-stakes races at the Keeneland spring meet will be increased by at least $1,000 per race, track officials announced Tuesday, with some races getting a raise of as much as $8,000 from previous levels.
Maiden and allowance races for 3-year-olds and upward will be run for a minimum of $58,000, while those same classes of races for 2-year-olds will be run for at least $52,000. For years, most of those races had been contested for $50,000. Also, purses for claiming races will increase by $1,000.
After briefly considering the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Gotham as possibilities, trainer Todd Pletcher on Tuesday said that the unbeaten Verrazano would make his stakes and two-turn debuts in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 9.
Verrazano, 2 for 2 in his brief career, most recently romped in a Gulfstream Park allowance race, a one-turn mile, by 16 1/4 lengths on Feb. 2 while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 105.
2013 Spring/Summer Racing Dates
April 26 - July 14 
(56 days)
Post Times
Dark Mondays and Tuesdays except:
Open: Monday, May 27
Dark: Wednesday, May 29 and July 10: Sunday, June 9
1:00 p.m. ET daily; Except 11:35 a.m. on Saturday, June 8 – Belmont Stakes Day
3:00 p.m. on Fridays, June 14, 21 & 28; July 5 & 12
The ability to run well fresh, her versatile running style, and previous success over this turf course may give Slew’s Exchange a slight edge in a competitive feature Wednesday at Gulfstream Park.
Slew’s Exchange meets six fillies and mares in a $57,500 second-level allowance race scheduled for five furlongs on turf. Slew’s Exchange and Revenue are both in for the optional claiming price of $62,500.
The feature goes as race 4 and is not part of the Rainbow 6 sequence that begins the day with a $2,195,692 carryover and starts with race 5.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Bill Mott was still scratching his head a bit Sunday trying to figure out Flat Out's disappointing fourth-place finish as the 2-1 favorite in the Donn Handicap. Flat Out was never a serious factor, finishing more than eight lengths behind Graydar in his first start since the Breeders' Cup Classic.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Mucho Macho Man breezed an easy three furlongs in 37.60 seconds with jockey Edgar Prado aboard after the renovation break at Gulfstream Park on Monday morning. The work was the first for Mucho Macho Man, runner-up in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic, since he was eased to the finish line as the heavy favorite in the Sunshine Millions Classic on Jan. 19.
