Ultimate Eagle, second in the San Pasqual Stakes last Saturday, will run in the $200,000 San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 3 as a prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 2.
“He came out of it like he went in – perfect,” trainer Mike Pender said.
In the San Pasqual, Ultimate Eagle set the pace and was caught by Coil in the final sixteenth, losing by a head. Coil was retired to stud following the race.
“I’ve got to hand it to Coil,” Pender said. “He ran a big race.”
Sunday’s pick six paid $7,313 for nine winning tickets, but the bet may be worth $8,776 to three of those ticketholders under a new bonus plan enacted Jan. 1 by Santa Anita.
The track is paying a 20 percent bonus to the winners of the pick six who place their bets ontrack. Ticketholders must be enrolled in the track’s Thoroughbreds Club frequent-customer program to be eligible for the bonus and must present their Thoroughbreds Club card to a mutuel clerk when placing pick-six bets.
After winning 2 of 4 starts in 2012, Tritap may have a 2013 season that has long been expected from the expensive colt.
Purchased for $450,000 at the 2010 Keeneland September yearling sale, Tritap makes his second start in a graded stakes in Saturday’s $150,000 San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita. For Tritap, the Grade 2 San Fernando is an opportunity for his second consecutive win, following an allowance race over 1 3/16 miles at Churchill Downs on Nov. 17.
Trainer Keith Nations is gearing up with the return of three of his stars who were given a little R&R after big 2012 campaigns.
Hexbreaker, a veteran sprinter with $278,845 in the bank, and Bailouttheminister, who won last summer’s Sam Whiting at Pleasanton before running fifth in the Longacres Mile, both have a pair of works since returning to training.
Since Wetherbee Lake ran fifth in an $8,000 claimer on New Year’s Day, trainer John Martin has been unbeatable in 2013.
He’s won the last six races he’s entered, beginning with wins by Beau Diablo and Last Sting last Friday. Martin won with Lucky to Stay Home, Elizabeth A, and Incisive on Saturday, and Besame Suances on Sunday. Martin also finished third with Along for the Ride in the race that Elizabeth A won.
Prior to Wetherbee Lake’s defeat, Martin had won with Gatheratthealter and Chin’n Tonic on Dec. 30 to give him eight winners from his past 10 starters.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Santa Anita turf course gets narrow Thursday, when the temporary rails are moved to the outermost 30-foot setting for the first time at the meet.
Many bettors will consider the rail position a key factor in the race-7 feature, a one-mile allowance with seven good horses, including four with a come-from-behind style – 2012 Grade 1 winner Willyconker, Akkadian, Make Music for Me and Clubhouse Ride.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It will be father versus son when trainer Dennis Ward’s Tiz in Court takes on his son Wesley Ward’s Strike the Tiger in Thursday’s $54,500 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The Ward family feud will be decided at five furlongs on the turf under first-level optional claiming conditions.
Trainer Joe Brook didn’t originally plan to run Condiment in Saturday’s $100,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields, but the best-laid plans of mice, men, and trainers often go awry.
Although he has three times finished second in stakes, Condiment has never crossed the finish line first. His lone victory came in a Sept. 27 maiden race at Sacramento when Wildcat Moon edged him by a nose and was disqualified.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint winner Hightail has been retired after sustaining an injury during a recent training session at Oaklawn Park, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Tuesday.
Lukas said Hightail fractured a sesamoid and is to rehab at the Calumet Farm operation of his owner, Brad Kelley. Stud plans for the horse are pending.
“He’s retired,” Lukas said. “It was training, just a bad step. He’s going to be okay as a stud.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Having recorded her second straight victory over Aqueduct’s inner track, Princess of Sylmar may stick around New York for her next start, which could come in the $100,000 Busher Stakes here on Feb. 2.
Princess of Sylmar won Saturday’s $100,000 Busanda Stakes by 7 1/2 lengths, her third straight open-lengths victory and her second in a row over the inner track.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said he spoke briefly with the owners of Princess of Sylmar after the race and the first inclination is to leave her in New York.
