The patient ride Corey Nakatani gave Hear the Ghost in the San Felipe last weekend at Santa Anita reminded everyone yet again that the veteran jockey remains on top of his game. He is off to Oaklawn Park on Saturday for stakes rides in the Azeri and the Rebel, but before that reflected on the San Felipe, in which Hear the Ghost, in contrast to Flashback and Goldencents, relaxed and finished.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Lady Diva Ga Ga will get back to the distance of her last two wins Friday at Oaklawn Park, when she starts in the ninth race, a $100,000 optional-claiming sprint for fillies and mares at six furlongs. A field of eight will go, including Ire, the third-place finisher in last month’s Mardi Gras Handicap at Fair Grounds, and Cowgirl N Up, a stakes winner two starts back at Sam Houston.
Wise Dan, the 2012 Horse of the Year, was among the workers over the Polytrack at Keeneland on a busy Tuesday morning for trainer Charlie LoPresti.
Wise Dan had his third breeze since returning from his traditional winter break, going five furlongs in 1:01. The 6-year-old Wise Dan is unraced since winning the Nov. 3 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – As his 2-5 morning-line odds suggest, Pinball loomed an imposing presence in Friday’s first race at Aqueduct. However, his absence from the $59,000 optional claimer will make the race a much more intriguing event from a wagering perspective.
Pinball, a dominant winner of his last two starts, will be scratched from the one-mile race because of a quarter crack, according to Bill Mott’s New York-based assistant trainer Leana Willaford, leaving a field of six without a clear-cut choice.
After his runner-up finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last November at Churchill Downs, Frac Daddy was one of the most promising horses in the 3-year-old class of 2013.
Since then, Frac Daddy has had but one race – and a disappointing one at that. Frac Daddy, a gray colt by Scat Daddy, finished a distant sixth in the Jan. 26 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park and exited the race with a hoof injury. After that, he was found to be suffering from a throat ulcer.
So isn’t trainer Ken McPeek frustrated?
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – At last check, the purse for the Florida Derby is still $1 million and the race is still worth 170 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, including 100 to the winner.
Former jockey Ryan Fogelsonger is among four guest handicappers who will audition next week for the in-house television host for Laurel Park and Pimlico.
In addition to Fogelsonger, Dylan Smith, Jackie Savoye, and Gabby Gaudet will each appear on-air one day March 20-23 as possible replacements for Frank Carulli. Carulli, who has been Maryland’s handicapper and racing analyst since January 2002, is moving to Las Vegas at the end of Pimlico’s spring meet on June 8.
ARCADIA, Calif. – With her win in the Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita on Sunday, Rumor earned a trip to Kentucky. Whether she stays there will depend on how she does in her next race, the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison Stakes on Keeneland’s Polytrack surface on April 13.
“She runs well on synthetic,” said Rumor’s trainer, Richard Mandella, who said Rumor’s owners – Ramona Bass, Adele Dilschneider, and Claiborne Farm’s Dell Hancock – “have said if she’s doing well we can keep her racing.
“We’ll see how it goes, but obviously we’re in pretty good shape right now,” Mandella said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Barry Abrams is hoping Santa Anita’s meet mirrors what is going on with his beloved Los Angeles Lakers, who are finding their stride after a sluggish start. An appropriate horse to carry that flame for Abrams on Friday at Santa Anita is Starspangled Heat, a late-running turf sprinter who was an unlucky loser of two downhill races earlier this meet and seeks an overdue victory in the featured seventh race.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Super Ninety Nine will have to overcome post 11 on Saturday, when he starts as a strong favorite in the Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. He is one of two starters in the 50-point Kentucky Derby qualifying race for trainer Bob Baffert, who also sends out Den’s Legacy.
