NEW ORLEANS – Departing was to be scratched from the Risen Star Stakes on Saturday because of a wide post-position draw, trainer Al Stall said.
Departing will be redirected to Sam Houston Park, where he’ll start next weekend in the $50,000 Texas Heritage Stakes over one mile and around two turns. Were Departing to perform impressively in that spot, the timing would be favorable for him to come back in the Louisiana Derby here at Fair Grounds on March 30.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Humble Smarty won his maiden by more than three lengths at Oaklawn in February 2007. He ran an even better race here last month. Humble Smarty won a six-furlong optional claimer in 1:10.60, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 94 in his first start at age 9. The effort will make him a strong favorite Sunday in the $50,000 Nodouble Breeders’ at Oaklawn.
Back-to-back optional claiming sprints for New York-breds highlight Sunday’s program, which completes a stakes-less weekend of racing at Aqueduct.
In race 5 for 3-year-olds, Gary Contessa, Bruce Levine, and Rudy Rodriguez each send out two runners in a competitive field of eight.
Contessa saddles Laila’s Jazz, who won his first two starts last year and was second by a nose in a New York Stallion Series Stakes at the fall meet, and Glowing Ember, a punctual favorite beating maidens at 3-5 three weeks ago.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After defeating Palace Malice in his career debut and finishing second behind Overanalyze in the Grade 2 Futurity last fall at Belmont Park, Carried Interest was considered among the major players in the division heading into the real meat of the 2-year-old season. But after nagging shins kept Carried Interest from participating in either the Nashua or Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, trainer Rick Violette decided to back off of his promising youngster, giving him plenty of time to recuperate in preparation for his 3-year-old campaign.
The Grade 3 Longacres Mile, $65,000 Emerald Downs Derby, and $75,000 Gottstein Futurity are among the highlights of the 2013 stakes schedule at Emerald Downs. The Auburn, Wash., racetrack has scheduled 28 Thoroughbred stakes worth a total of about $1.5 million for the meet, which runs from April 19 to Sept. 29.
Most of the stakes will be run on a Sunday, including the $200,000 Longacres Mile, which was won last year by Taylor Said and Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Mario Gutierrez.
Fancy meeting you here.
Dry Summer and the Doug O’Neill-trained Greeley Awesome, who once raced against each other at Del Mar, meet Saturday in New Mexico for the $120,000 Mine That Bird Derby. The Sunland Park feature formerly known as the Borderland Derby has been renamed for the 2009 winner of the Kentucky Derby. The Mine That Bird Derby also serves as a springboard to the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby on March 24.
NEW ORLEANS – Everyone knows Chad Brown is sending a horse to New Orleans this week, with Normandy Invasion probably favored to win the Risen Star Stakes here Saturday. Much less widely known is that Brown has sent two horses to New Orleans.
Hyper was one of 11 horses entered in the Grade 3, $150,000 Fair Grounds Handicap. Hyper will be Brown’s second starter at Fair Grounds. The first was Casino Host, who won the Mervin Muniz Handicap last March.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – All About Allie will have to fight off a couple of sharp mares Saturday, when she attempts to win the $60,000 Downthedustyroad at Oaklawn Park for the third consecutive year. She will be moving from open company back into the Arkansas-bred ranks for the six-furlong race for fillies and mares and faces chief rivals Bikini Bella and Hatter Nu Nu.
NEW ORLEANS – When a trainer talks about not being able to keep a horse on the ground, what’s meant is that the horse is thriving physically, is on edge, and needs to be allowed to run fast in a race. The phrase is not meant literally – most of the time.
When Mark Valeski blazed through a 59-second five-furlong workout under Rosie Napravnik here Feb. 1, he actually could not be kept on the ground.
NEW ORLEANS – A niggling problem with talking about the Risen Star Stakes as a Kentucky Derby prep is the race’s minimal historic impact on the Derby. Nine of the last 15 Risen Star winners made it to the Derby. Their average finishing position was 11th. Among that set, only Mucho Macho Man cracked the Derby trifecta, coming in third in 2011.
