Paynter, the winner of the Haskell Invitational last August who survived a bout with laminitis last summer and fall, emerged from his first workout of the year Tuesday in good condition, trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday. Paynter worked three furlongs in 36 seconds.
“He’s a pretty fit horse,” Baffert said. “He gets so much out of his galloping. I could have worked him three-quarters.”
Mizdirection, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint last November and two Grade 2 stakes earlier this year, will make her next start at Santa Anita or Keeneland on April 13.
Trainer Mike Puype said he and the partnership that owns the 5-year-old mare are considering the $100,000 Las Cienegas Handicap on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita or the $300,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes over a mile on turf at Keeneland.
Trainer Al Stall Jr. will be seeking his third win in the Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston Race Park on Saturday night, when he sends out Unlatch in the main event on a program of four stakes. The races are worth a cumulative $250,000, and Stall also will have starters in the three other races, including undefeated 3-year-old Departing in the $50,000 Texas Heritage.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The $150,000 Swale Stakes no longer has any weight in determining eligibility for this year’s Kentucky Derby. But the money is still enough to lure a full field of 13 sprinters when the tradition-rich Grade 3 dash has its 28th renewal here Saturday.
Bettors looking forward to an all-stakes pick three linking the Gotham with the Top Flight and Tom Fool Handicaps on Saturday’s 11-race card at Aqueduct have another thing coming.
The Grade 2, $200,000 Top Flight goes as race 7 and is thus positioned out of the $250,000 guaranteed late pick four, which begins a race later with maiden New York-breds.
The Grade 3 Tom Fool, also worth $200,000, is race 9, so multi-race exotic bettors have the option of a rolling double with the featured $400,000 Gotham for 3-year-olds.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Canticle will be making her two-turn debut in Friday’s ninth race at Oaklawn, and if the 3-year-old filly gets the trip, she could become a candidate for next month’s $75,000 Instant Racing, trainer Chris Hartman said.
The ninth race is one of two $62,500 optional claimers on the card for 3-year-old fillies. It will be run over 1 1/16 miles, while the other race, the eighth, is at six furlongs.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – So Many Ways, an undefeated Grade 1 winner who was conspicuous by her absence from last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, will get her 3-year-old campaign off and running when she returns at 6 1/2 furlongs in Friday’s $70,000 Primal Force overnight stakes at Gulfstream Park.
So Many Ways was perfect in three starts for owner Maggi Moss and trainer Anthony Dutrow during an abbreviated 2-year-old campaign that ended following her convincing 2 1/2-length victory over Sweet Shirley Mae in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Spinaway.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Lady Asano was claimed for $75,000 when she finished eighth of nine in a maiden race over six furlongs at Betfair Hollywood Park on Nov. 29.
John Sadler, who claimed Lady Asano for Kosta Hronis, said, “We didn’t look very smart.”
They are looking better now. Lady Asano returned to win a maiden special weight race over 1 1/16 miles by 7 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita on Jan. 27 in her second start. Her third race is Saturday’s $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes over a mile for 3-year-old fillies.
