OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There was a familiar name in the Aqueduct winner’s circle here following the second race last Sunday.
The Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons Racing Stable, named in honor of the legendary trainer, had its first winner when Al’s Lark captured Sunday’s second race, a $12,500 claiming heat. The stable is a partnership of friends and family members formed last summer by Jack Fitzsimmons, a grandson of Sunny Jim’s.
The Grade 3, $191,560 Harrah’s Futurity for Quarter Horses is the final stakes of the Louisiana Downs meet that wraps up on Wednesday. The 300-yard feature is led by Secrets Fly, who set the fastest qualifying time during trials March 2.
Secrets Fly was a half-length winner of his trial, while covering 300 yards in 15.55 seconds. He was the favorite in the race, and was prominent throughout.
Two of last year’s most dominant horses in Nebraska will finally meet in a heavily anticipated match-up as Song of Humor and Diamond Joe headline a field of nine older rivals going six furlongs in the $25,000 Budweiser/Tondi Stakes at Fonner Park on Saturday.
Sunland Derby favorite Shakin It Up was one of six horses who flew into New Mexico on Thursday morning to be part of a Sunday program of seven stakes worth more than $1.4 million. The card is the richest of the meet at Sunland Park.
Shakin It Up was joined on Thursday’s flight by Govenor Charlie, Saint Prado and Mudflats, all of whom are also entered in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby. The fillies Midnight Lucky and Unusual Way also made the trip, according to a track official, to run in the $200,000 Sunland Park Oaks.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Calidoscopio certainly was the oddest winner of a Breeders’ Cup race at Santa Anita last November.
Not often does a 9-year-old, Argentine-bred horse make his U.S. debut in the Breeders’ Cup and score a 17-1 upset in a race such as the Marathon over 1 3/4 miles on dirt. The performance remains Calidoscopio’s only start in this country. Illness and minor injuries kept him away from expected starts in December, February, and earlier this month.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Fast track or wet, one turn or two, main track or inner, Last Gunfighter has handled it all so far since coming to trainer Chad Brown’s barn last fall.
Saturday, Last Gunfighter gets his first shot at becoming a graded winner while looking to extend his winning streak to five when he meets six rivals – including 2011 Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice – in the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – The fourth, and final, legs of the Tampa Turf Test will highlight Saturday’s program at Tampa Bay Downs. Twelve colts and geldings and eight fillies and mares were entered in the respective 1 3/8-mile divisions. The starter handicap series is for horses who have started for $16,000 or less in 2012-13.
Last year, a Grade 1 winner emerged from the Bourbonette Oaks on the Spiral undercard at Turfway when the winner, In Lingerie, proceeded to take the Spinster at Keeneland in the fall.
This year, there already is a Grade 1-winning filly in Saturday’s race, Pure Fun, though her presence did little to dissuade horsemen from running 3-year-old fillies against her. A full field of 12 is entered, including Marathon Lady, Le Fascinator, Corporate Culture, Broken Spell, Silsita, and the unbeaten Awesome Mama.
FLORENCE, Ky. – The road to the Kentucky Derby rarely is smooth, as Mark Casse can attest. With a colt named Uncaptured, the trainer hit a detour that has led him to Turfway Park, where on Saturday the track’s showcase event will serve as a critical test for Uncaptured and 11 other Derby hopefuls.
