OLDSMAR Fla. – The Grade 3, $150,000 Hillsborough Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on the turf and the $100,000 Suncoast, run over a mile and 40 yards on the main track, top a strong undercard for the 12-race Festival Day program at Tampa Bay Downs, which is highlighted by the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.
The Hillsborough, for older fillies and mares, could turn into a battle between two of the sport’s top trainers in Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown.
The man named Small sure has lived a big life in racing and beyond.
Richard “Dickie” Small, a lifelong horseman who was a Green Beret in his younger days, has been stricken in the last couple of years by an aggressive form of cancer. But that hasn’t stopped the 67-year-old from making his presence felt on his home Maryland circuit.
Small will be represented Saturday by Dynamic Strike, one of the top contenders in the $150,000 Private Terms Stakes at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.
In Washington Park on Chicago’s south side, there’s a low brick building with green trim that until 1905 stabled horses at the original Washington Park racetrack. In the south suburban town of Homewood, a street called Derby Avenue harks back to Washington Park’s second incarnation, which burned in 1977. Through mid-20th-century, Chicago attracted many of the best stables in the country every summer. The remains of the old tracks lie all over Chicagoland: Aurora Downs, Garfield Park, Harlem Race Track, Dexter Park, Brighton Park. Sportsman’s Park.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - King Henny, who upset Titletown Five in the $60,000 Gazebo for 3-year-olds at six furlongs last Saturday at Oaklawn, will remain sprinting, said trainer Steve Asmussen. The horse won his third career stakes and earned a career-high Beyer of 83.
"I think three-quarters to seven-eighths is his best lick," Asmussen said.
Asmussen said the goal now is to run King Henny back in a sprint at Oaklawn, with the most likely option the $75,000 Bachelor for 3-year-olds at six furlongs April 6.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Master Rick, who dominated allowance foes last week at Oaklawn, is being pointed for the Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park, said his trainer, Steve Asmussen. The race is April 27.
“We like him at a flat mile and think that’s his distance,” said Asmussen, who trains Master Rick for Richard L. Davis. “This gives him plenty of time off a nice win.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Unstoppable U, who shipped into Sam Houston Race Park last Saturday night and won the $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup, is to make his next start in the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap on April 13, said his trainer, Ken McPeek.
Unstoppable U has now won two of three starts this year, his other score coming in an allowance at his Oaklawn base. In the Maxxam, run over the same mile-and-an-eighth distance of the Oaklawn Handicap, he tracked the pace and went on to a one-length win. Unstoppable U earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 89.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Smooth Bert, winner of the Damon Runyon Stakes for New York-bred juveniles last December, breezed three furlongs in 37.89 seconds Wednesday morning at Belmont Park.
It was the first work for Smooth Bert since he finished sixth in the Grade 3 Withers on Feb. 2. It also was his first work since he had a testicle removed and became a ridgling.
Trainer Leah Gyarmati said Smooth Bert had been bothered periodically by an ascended testicle. Sometimes, he would walk awkwardly around the shed row, Gyarmati said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Eddie Kenneally reported that he has sent two of his promising 3-year-old prospects, Majestic Hussar and Bradester, to the farm. Majestic Hussar set the pace before finishing a tiring fourth stretching out around two turns for the first time in the Fountain of Youth. He had defeated Palace Malice in his previous start.
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Nick Canani was back in New York on Wednesday morning, but his prize pupil, Called to Serve, was getting a brief vacation in Kentucky following his third-place finish in Saturday's Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.
Called to Serve was flown from Southern California to Lexington on Wednesday and was to spend a couple of days at a farm. He was expected to van back to Belmont Park over the weekend.
Trainer Pat Devereux said he is hopeful he can still make the Kentucky Oaks with his stable star, Touch Magic, who has not breezed since Feb. 16. The daughter of Lion Heart incurred a setback with what Devereux describes as an inflamed hock.
“The Oaks is still in our plans if we can get her back to more steady work,” Devereux said. “We’re just proceeding with great caution.”
