OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Revolutionary will try to join his more celebrated stablemates Shanghai Bobby, Violence, and Overanalyze on the Triple Crown trail when he heads a field of eight entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
The Withers, run at 1 1/16 miles over the inner track, offers 17 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby on a 10-4-2-1 basis to the top four finishers. None of the horses entered in the Withers has earned any Derby points.
Summer Applause, who had a horrendous trip when sixth in the Houston Ladies Classic, is being sent to Florida to trainer Chad Brown, according to Bret Calhoun, who trained the filly last year and into the race Saturday.
“She’s being transferred,” Calhoun said Wednesday. “A reason wasn’t given. I think there’s more races for her there.”
Beholder, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2012, is only in light training this week while being treated for a throat ulcer that was detected after her second in the Santa Ynez Stakes on Jan. 21, trainer Richard Mandella said.
The treatment could impact whether she starts in the $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes over a mile on March 2.
“We’re going easy on her,” Mandella said. “We’re treating her throat, and we’ll know more in 10 days. It might work if it responds well enough. If she doesn’t, we’ll take time.”
The winter campaign of the 4-year-old Stephanoatsee has been geared toward Saturday’s $200,000 Strub Stakes.
After placing in stakes at Aqueduct in January and November, but missing most of 2012 because of a pastern injury, Stephanoatsee can win his first stakes in Saturday’s Grade 2 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles on the main track. The result of the race will dictate how trainer Graham Motion campaigns the ridgling, who has won 3 of 8 starts racing in New York and the mid-Atlantic circuit.
“I hope he fits,” he said. “It’s a long way to go if he doesn’t.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Add Citrus Kid to the steadily growing list of likely starters for the Grade 1 Donn Handicap on Feb. 9. Citrus Kid returned from a 14-month layoff to upset El Padrino under allowance conditions on the main track on Dec. 19. Citrus Kid had run his previous eight starts on turf.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Last fall, Den’s Legacy was the top 2-year-old turf prospect in trainer Bob Baffert’s stable.
The colt’s performances in the last six weeks have shown he may be much more than that.
After a third in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity on the synthetic main track at Betfair Hollywood Park in December and a second in the Sham Stakes on dirt Jan. 5, Den’s Legacy has been entered for Saturday’s $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on the main track for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita.
Joyful Victory will be returning to Grade 1 competition following her track-record performance in Saturday night’s inaugural $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston Race Park. Trainer Larry Jones said Wednesday that Joyful Victory will make her next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Santa Margarita at Santa Anita on March 16. She will be traveling to Southern California from her Fair Grounds base in New Orleans.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It would not have been out of line had Saturday’s Charm been entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Handicap at Aqueduct.
However, the connections opted for a softer spot in Friday’s $64,000 feature for sprinters that have never won three races or whose connections want to risk losing them for a claiming tag of $35,000.
Despite being the richest race on the card, the allowance feature goes as the first.
That sigh of relief emanating from Aqueduct early Wednesday afternoon came from trainer Kelly Breen after watching Ruler On Ice win for the first time since his upset victory in the 2011 Belmont Stakes.
Under Irad Ortiz Jr., Ruler On Ice rallied from last in a four-horse to field to run down pacesetting Spa City Fever and win a third-level allowance race by three-quarters of a length. It broke a nine-racing losing streak dating back to the Belmont for Ruler On Ice, a 5-year-old gelding by Roman Ruler owned by George and Lori Hall.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Barclay Tagg put his multiple stakes winner Beau Choix into Friday’s $65,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park hoping to find a little softer spot for him. Instead, Beau Choix will line up against a stakes-caliber group that also includes Grade 3 winner Upgrade, the multiple Grade 3 winner Get Serious, the Grade 3-placed Empire Builder, multiple stakes winner Decisive Moment, the Group 1 South American winner Grand Berry, and the red-hot Major Marvel.
