ARCADIA, Calif. – Ron McAnally has a spring in his step these days, and it’s not just because of the recent knee surgery that has him cutting to the basket like Stephen Curry now. The Hall of Fame trainer has long had a terrific pipeline for South American imports, and his latest, Suggestive Boy, seems poised to follow in the footsteps of Bayakoa, Candy Ride, and Paseana.
Even a nitpicker would have difficulty finding anything negative to say about Walkwithapurpose, the 3-year-old filly whose credentials stand out in Saturday’s $100,000 Caesar’s Wish Stakes at Laurel Park.
A Sagamore Farm homebred daughter of the Argentine horse Candy Ride, Walkwithapurpose owns a 4-for-4 record at Laurel, including dominating stakes victories in the Maryland Juvenile Championship and the Wide Country.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –Tuttipaesi is an easy horse to root for in Saturday’s $150,000 Herecomesthebride Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Not only is she a 3-year-old filly of immense talent and promise, but 25 percent of any net profits Tuttipaesi makes will be donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer foundation.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – This time last year Mark Casse was preparing a promising 3-year-old named Prospective for the Tampa Bay Derby with hopes the big, strapping colt would prove to be Triple Crown material.
Prospective, with blinkers added, won the Tampa Bay Derby and eventually did make the Run for the Roses, but a bad trip eliminated any chance Prospective may have had.
No, there aren’t any Kentucky Derby points available Saturday in the $75,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes over the Polytrack surface at Turfway Park. But for some folks working backward from the May 4 Derby – such as Ken Ramsey – it seems like an ideal place to get in some useful practice for Polytrack races with points.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The much anticipated rematch between Fort Larned and Mucho Macho Man, the first- and second-place finishers in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, that was expected to take place in the Gulfstream Park Handicap on March 9 is off. That news came Thursday morning after the connections of Mucho Macho Man revealed their horse has a minor ailment that will prevent him from defending his title in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap.
Parx Racing’s experiment of putting a pair of $1 million races on the same card worked out so well that the suburban Philadelphia track plans to do it again this year.
In a release announcing its major stakes schedule for 2013, Parx said the Grade 1 Cotillion for 3-year-old fillies and the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby for 3-year-olds will headline a card Sept. 21. In addition to the two $1 million races, the card will include the Grade 3, $300,000 Gallant Bob for 3-year-old sprinters.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Shivananda Parbhoo has started getting a little more serious with his Eclipse Award winner Trinniberg, putting blinkers back on the sprint champion and bringing regular rider Willie Martinez to town to work him five furlongs in 1:01.31 here Tuesday.
“He worked nice and easy and galloped out strong,” said Parbhoo. “This was the first time he’s had the blinkers on in the morning since we started back in training. It’s just to keep him focused. He’ll have to wear them again in his next start.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Rick Violette was pleased with almost everything about Carried Interest’s 3-year-old debut on Sunday. Everything, that is, except the final result.
Carried Interest, regarded among the top 2-year-old prospects on the East Coast last summer after defeating Palace Malice in his debut and finishing second behind Overanalyze in the Futurity at Belmont, was beaten a half-length by City of Weston after setting a hotly contested pace in his return. He received a career best 94 Beyer Speed Figure in defeat.
Titletown Five, who Wednesday was announced as an individual betting interest in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, will make his seasonal debut Saturday at Oaklawn in the $60,000 Gazebo. The field for the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds includes the undefeated Get Happy Mister, a nine-length winner of the $100,000 Gold Rush Futurity at Arapahoe in his last start Aug. 19.
