Mon, 11/26/2012 - 16:12

Aqueduct: Caixa Eletronica staying in New York for winter

Jessica Hansen/NYRA
Caixa Eletronica wins the Fall Highweight under Javier Castellano, who followed owner Mike Repole's instructions to keep the horse close to the leader.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - While the majority of trainer Todd Pletcher’s stakes winners are headed for the warm climes of south Florida this week, multiple graded stakes winner Caixa Eletronica was left behind as one of the anchors to the New York string.

Pletcher said Caixa Eletronica, winner of last Thursday’s Grade 3 Fall Highweight, would be pointed to the $1 million Charles Town Classic – a race he won this past spring – next April and have a few starts in the Northeast beforehand. One of those races could be in the General George at Laurel, typically run on Presidents Day.

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 15:51

Aqueduct: Dance Card still has work to do

Barbara D. Livingston
Dance Card, with Ramon Dominguez up, wins the Grade 1 Gazelle. It was Dominguez's fifth win on the card.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Kiaran McLaughlin said that Dance Card came out of her four-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Gazelle in good shape, but the trainer remains concerned about the filly’s tendency to drift in her races.

Dance Card has won four consecutive races, but she has drifted out significantly in her last three starts.

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 15:49

Remington Park notes: The Drifter sidelined with injury

Dustin Orona Photography
The Drifter, winner of the Kip Deville Stakes, will miss six months to a year with a knee injury.

The Drifter was found to have sustained a knee injury after being pulled up during the running of the $100,000 Clever Trevor at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, according to trainer Cody Autrey. The Drifter is one of the top 2-year-olds in the Southwest, with two stakes wins for owner Charles Fletcher, including the Kip Deville at Remington in September. He was the favorite in the Clever Trevor and was cruising on the early lead in the Nov. 9 stakes when suddenly guided to the outside rail by regular rider Cliff Berry.

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 15:47

Delta Downs: Simington hopes for spring return

Jockey Don Simington on Monday said he hopes to return to riding toward the end of the Delta Downs meet that runs through March 23. Simington broke his collarbone in a spill at the Vinton, La., track on Oct. 20. He has since had surgery to stabilize the injury.

“It wasn’t going to heal the way it was,” said Simington, 49. “Most of the guys I know that have had [this type of] surgery are out three or four months. I hope to be back in that time frame. It’s been a month since the surgery. Hopefully, I’ll get back up and ride the last month of Delta.”

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 15:45

Aqueduct: Unbridled Command proving a distance-lover

Benoit & Associates
Unbridled Command wins the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Sunday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Tom Bush was back at Belmont Park on Monday morning after catching the red-eye flight back from Southern California, where on Sunday his New York-bred Unbridled Command won the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby.

“It was a big thrill,” Bush said. “He ran great. He looked like he had a chance on paper. They bet him late in the race.”

The win was the fifth straight for Unbridled Command, who won the Grade 3 Saranac at Saratoga in September and the Mohawk Stakes for New York-breds at Belmont in October.

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 15:30

Aqueduct: Verbosity goes for repeat score on Wednesday

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Typically, racing at Aqueduct moves to the winterized inner track the Wednesday following Thanksgiving. However, with the holiday being so early on the calendar this year coupled with the trouble experienced last year on the inner track when 21 horses were euthanized, racing is scheduled to remain on the main track for the next two weeks.

Naturally, Mother Nature had a storm brewing for Tuesday, expected to bring a wintry mix to the metropolitan area, but nothing that is expected to hamper Wednesday’s nine-race program at the Big A.

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 15:11

Oaklawn Park: Romans plans to have first Arkansas string

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Dale Romans plans to have a 20-horse division at Oaklawn Park this winter.

Trainer Dale Romans said Monday that he plans to send a division of horses to Oaklawn Park for the meet that opens Jan. 11. He said it would be the first time he has had a stable based at the Hot Springs, Ark., track. Romans is making plans for a 20-horse division at Oaklawn.

“It’s a good fit for some of the horses,” he said Monday.

“It will be a mixed group of horses.”

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 15:00

Aqueduct: Brown still getting over tough Remsen and Matriarch losses

Michael Amoruso
Normandy Invasion drops a head bob to Overanalyze in the Remsen, giving trainer Chad Brown a tough beat.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It was a tough weekend in what has otherwise been a terrific year for trainer Chad Brown.

On Saturday, at Aqueduct, he watched in person as his 2-year-old colt Normandy Invasion fell a nose short to Overanalyze in the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes.

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 14:54

Churchill Downs notes: Beyer Figure comes back low for Uncaptured in Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography
Uncaptured (right) holds off Frac Daddy in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. Both horses received 75 Beyers.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Perhaps the most compelling surprise from the highly eventful final weekend of the 21-day Churchill Downs fall meet was not the 30-1 upset by Keep Up in the River City Handicap on the closing-day program Sunday, but the relatively low Beyer Speed Figures recorded by the stakes performers on the Stars of Tomorrow card Saturday.

Mon, 11/26/2012 - 14:18

Woodbine: Khulna goes for hot trainer

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Reade Baker, who celebrated a victory by Bear Tough Tiger in last Sunday’s Kennedy Road Stakes, sends out Khulna in Wednesday’s Woodbine feature, a seven-furlong Ontario-sired allowance.

Khulna capped his 2011 campaign with a fast (80 Beyer Speed Figure) score in a seven-furlong allowance for Ontario-sired nonwinners-of-two stock. He has made each of his four starts this year at Wednesday’s nonwinners-of-three level, races that were well spaced out.