HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Phil Gleaves said he would likely point Csaba to the Grade 1 Donn Handicap here Feb. 9 following his game victory in Sunday’s Hal’s Hope. When he gets to the Donn starting gate, he’s likely to see a lot of familiar faces.
In light of the close finish of the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope, with only a couple of necks and a head separating the top four finishers, it is possible all four could return in the Donn.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Chris Block saddled the 1,000th winner of his training career in Saturday’s second race, with the 5-year-old mare All for Thee. Block was not on hand to celebrate the occasion. A board member of the Illinois Division of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Block was back in Chicago attending a contract meeting with officials of Hawthorne Racecourse.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - An unusual starter optional claiming race for 3-year-old fillies will serve as the main event on Wednesday’s 10-race program. The 1 1/16-mile turf event drew a field of nine led by a pair of recent maiden winners, Suesteps and Sharapova Slams, along with Rhythm Queen, who won a pair of grass races at Calder nearing the tail end of her 2-year-old season.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Royal Delta and Ron the Greek topped Sunday’s work tab at Payson Park. Royal Delta breezed a half-mile in 49.20 in her second work since winning the BC Ladies’ Classic. Like Trinniberg and Shanghai Bobby, she is expected to pick up a trophy at Saturday’s awards dinner as champion older female of 2012.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trinniberg, the Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner and favorite to be named male sprint champion at Saturday’s Eclipse ceremonies, is scheduled to arrive at Gulfstream Park Wednesday to resume training for the 2013 season.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Todd Pletcher reported that Shanghai Bobby is sitting on ready for his first start of the year, scheduled to come in the Grade 3 Holy Bull a week from Saturday, after watching his unbeaten 3-year-old work five furlongs in 1:00.42 at Palm Meadows on Sunday. Shanghai Bobby, popular winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, is the overwhelming favorite to be named juvenile champion at the Eclipse Awards dinner, to be held here Saturday night.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Graham Motion is excited over the prospects of two promising Irish-bred turf fillies in his barn, Absolute Crackers and Tuttipaesi. Absolute Crackers overcame trouble to capture a two-other-than allowance race Sunday. Tuttipaesi won her U.S. debut in impressive fashion in the Ginger Brew Stakes here on New Year’s Day.
Smooth Bert, who won the Damon Runyon Stakes for New York-breds Dec. 9, will most likely make his next start in the Grade 3, $200,000 Withers Stakes for 3-year-olds on Feb. 2, trainer Leah Gyarmati said Monday.
Smooth Bert is 2 for 5, with both wins coming in one-turn mile races. He had a temperature that forced him to miss the Grade 2, $200,000 Jerome on Jan. 5.
“It seems like a good time to find out if belongs with that kind,” Gyarmati said. “If not, we can go back to New York-breds.”
Lady Banks, winner of Saturday’s $75,000 Ruthless Stakes at six furlongs, will likely get the opportunity to stretch out in distance for her next start, trainer James Lawrence said Monday. One option is the $150,000 Caesars Wish Stakes at Laurel on March 2 at a mile.
Another 4-year-old New York-bred filly with a future is Mischief Maker, who cruised to a 7 1/4-length victory in Sunday’s $75,000 Swirlaway Stakes, a race that scratched down to three horses.
It was the second straight dominant win for Mischief Maker, a daughter of Capetown owned and bred by Patricia Lavelle’s Windhorse Thoroughbreds.
Though Mischief Maker is in career-best form, trainer Bruce Brown said he will stick to his original plan of giving her the remainder of the winter off, and point to a summer campaign.
