OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct isn’t a restricted race, there’s a pretty good chance it will be won by a New York-bred.
Three of the six-horses entered in the six-furlong Toboggan are New York-breds, including logical contenders Mine Over Matter, Head Heart Hoof, and Johannesburg Smile.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Beginning next week, Aqueduct will implement a four-day race week for February and March, shaving six days off its winter schedule, it was announced Thursday.
The request by the New York Racing Association to reduce its schedule was formally approved by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board at its final meeting Thursday. It must get final approval by the Franchise Oversight Board, expected to be a fait accompli.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – The $150,000 Florida Oaks, which has been reinstated as a Grade 3 this season, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Endeavour, which was won last season by eventual Eclipse Award-winning turf mare Zagora, are the supporting features on the Tampa Bay Downs Festival Preview Day card Saturday.
Both mile-and-a-sixteenth turf races are interesting affairs and offer attractive wagering possibilities. The feature race is the Grade 3, $200,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes for 3-year-olds.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – San Pablo has invaded from Florida to lead a field of five older horses in the $100,000 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn on Saturday. The race also drew the first three finishers from last month’s Fifth Season, which Donoharm won by a neck over Skyring. Win Willy was another half-length back in third in an effort that moved him within $32,113 of $1 million in career earnings.
The Essex is the first major race in Oaklawn’s handicap series. It continues with the Grade 3, $150,000 Razorback on March 9 and the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn on April 13.
Jeff Greenhill liked horse racing so much that he quit his job as a successful chemical engineer at age 41 to plunge headfirst into the game. Some 16 years later, Greenhill is still having a good time, although nothing has come very easy for him and his wife, Sherri.
Greenhill, 57, takes it upon himself to van the horses he and Sherri own to a variety of racing venues from their base in Kentucky.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After dominating the competition in her last three starts, Princess of Sylmar could get a stern test Saturday when she meets the New York-bred stakes winner Kelli Got Frosty in the $100,000 Busher Stakes at Aqueduct.
Only five 3-year-old fillies were entered for the Busher – including three from trainer Todd Pletcher’s stable – but it looks to be a two-horse race on paper.
Princess of Sylmar, a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Majestic Warrior, is 3 for 3 around two turns after finishing fourth in her debut sprinting.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Fed Biz has made quite an impression on Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith since Christmas.
On Dec. 26, Fed Biz threw a tantrum in the starting gate before the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes and finished sixth. He left Smith with a sizeable bruise on his calf.
Things went more smoothly in the Grade 2 San Fernando Stakes on Jan. 12, a race Fed Biz won by a head over Tritap. The win has left Fed Biz as the favorite for the $200,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds at Santa Anita on Saturday, and Smith confident that the colt can win the third stakes of his career.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Before trainer Todd Pletcher officially welcomes Revolutionary to his deep bench of Kentucky Derby candidates, he wants to see the colt put forth another performance similar to his last.
On Dec. 28, Revolutionary galloped to an 8 1/2-length maiden victory over Aqueduct’s inner track, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 102 and flashing the potential that led him to be heavily favored in all four of his starts.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The $150,000 Arcadia Stakes over a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Saturday will be the first stakes appearance against older horses for the lightly raced Silentio. The Grade 2 Arcadia is an assignment that Silentio can handle, according to trainer Gary Mandella.
“I think he’s that good,” Mandella said. “We think we haven’t seen the best of him yet.”
Silentio won his stakes debut in the Grade 2 Sir Beaufort Stakes over a mile on turf for 3-year-olds here Dec. 26. He faces a much tougher field in the 14-runner Arcadia.
An enterprising handicapper with a contrarian streak might be trying to beat 2012 Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can, a horse returning from a seven-month layoff as an overwhelming favorite in the $100,000 Tiffany Lass Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds.
Such a handicapper might even experience a “voila!” moment noting the one-month gap, from Dec. 21 to Jan. 17, in Believe You Can’s published workouts.
But beware, would-be favorite-beater: The hole in the work pattern came because Believe You Can has been working a hole in the wind.
