Skippylongstocking will likely make his next start in the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic next month at Charles Town, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Thursday.
The 1 1/8-mile race, which is run around three turns, is Aug. 25.
Skippylongstocking, who has been based in South Florida, traveled to Iowa earlier this month and finished a fast-closing second to Giant Game in the Grade 3, $300,000 Cornhusker Handicap at Prairie Meadows. Skippylongstocking earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 98.
The reigning champion sprinter Elite Power stepped up his preparation for the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap on July 29 with a strong five-furlong workout in 59.60 seconds on Friday morning over the Oklahoma training track.
Elite Power worked in company with Provocateur – a multiple listed stakes winner last year – starting several lengths behind that one and finishing slightly in front at the wire.
“I was looking for a 1:01, but they went a little quicker than that,” trainer Bill Mott said. “They’ve both done enough now, they should be ready.”
The major work seems about done, but the final decision has not been made quite yet regarding plans for Kentucky Derby winner Mage’s next start, which will come either in the $1 million Haskell this Saturday at Monmouth Park or one week later in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga.
Working for the fourth time since his third-place finish as the favorite in the Preakness on May 20, Mage breezed six furlongs in 1:13.40 under regular exercise rider J.J. Delgado on Friday at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, Ky.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The last time they were seen together in the afternoon, Angel of Empire and Hit Show finished in a dead heat for fourth in the Belmont Stakes.
The next time they will be seen together in the afternoon, Angel of Empire and Hit Show will be in the starting gate for the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes on July 29 at Saratoga, trainer Brad Cox said Friday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The King’s Plate-nominated horses who competed in Grade 1 turf stakes on July 8 at Belmont Park were disappointing, which has thrown the early Plate picture into some disarray.
Following consecutive front-running scores on the Belmont turf, Grade 2 winner Kalik was a non-threatening eighth in Belmont Derby, his first poor performance since his 2-year-old debut on dirt.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Thursday’s opening-day card began very much like the recently concluded Belmont Park meet with Linda Rice and Jose Ortiz teaming up to win the first race.
By day’s end, Saratoga very much resembled Saratoga with a ferocious storm, complete with thunder, lightning, and a National Weather Service alert blaring on cell phones.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Forte, runner-up in the Belmont Stakes last month, will bypass the $1 million Haskell Stakes on July 22 at Monmouth Park and instead make his next start in the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes on July 29 at Saratoga, trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday.
“Tough call,” Pletcher said. “There may or not may be a right answer. We just felt like shipping up here, getting a race over the track. The two Travers winners we’ve had have run in the Jim Dandy.”
California trainer Milton Pineda, already provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare United, has been cited for a fifth positive for a banned medication found in one of his recent runners at Los Alamitos, the regulatory body announced on its website on Wednesday.
Santa Anita has made minimal changes to the stakes schedule for its six-week autumn meeting from Sept. 29 to Nov. 5, a season highlighted by the Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 3-4.
There are 14 stakes from Sept. 29 through Oct. 8 designed as preps for BC races. Four of those races offer automatic berths to BC races through the Win and You’re In program – the Awesome Again Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt, American Pharoah Stakes for 2-year-olds, the Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, and the Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares on turf.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hoosier Philly, who returned to form with a victory in the Monomoy Girl Stakes at Ellis Park on June 17, worked a half-mile in 49.49 seconds Wednesday morning over Saratoga’s main track. She is preparing for a start in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks here on July 22.
Trainer Tom Amoss had regular rider Edgar Morales fly in Tuesday night to breeze the filly Wednesday morning.
“It was an easy half-mile work. She looked like herself, everything was as good as you’d want it to be,” Amoss said.
