ARCADIA, Calif. – Except for the stories and laughter from trainer Bill Spawr’s office, barn 37 at Santa Anita was unusually quiet this week.
Spawr can spin a tale, such as the old-time gypsy trainers who were Spawr’s racetrack neighbors and buried their gambling proceeds inside coffee cans in dirt stalls at Santa Anita. Or the time a filly Spawr had claimed for $50,000 beat Charlie Whittingham in a Grade 1 at Hollywood Park.
Richard Dutrow Jr. could be back training soon.
Dutrow, whose trainer’s license was revoked by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board – now known as the New York State Gaming Commission – in January 2013 for a period of no less than 10 years, has been issued a license to participate in New York horse racing, according to the commission.
At the beginning of Monday’s New York State Gaming Commission meeting, Rob Williams, the executive director of the Gaming Commission, said that Dutrow applied for a license last month and his application was approved.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – As a horse owner and avid horseplayer, Al Gold can sometimes be at odds with himself.
As the owner of Instant Coffee, Gold has a 3-year-old whose prospects for the Kentucky Derby appear to strengthen weekly as horses that Instant Coffee has beaten have come back to win. Most notably, Confidence Game, third behind Instant Coffee in the Lecomte on Jan. 21, came back to win last Saturday’s Grade 2 Rebel. Denington, fourth in the Lecomte, came back to win a Fair Grounds allowance on Feb. 18.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A lot changed this month for Arabian Knight and new trainer Tim Yakteen.
Arabian Knight entered February 2 for 2 and the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby; Yakteen was focused on preparing his single Derby prospect, Practical Move, for a comeback in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
It all shifted last week. Arabian Knight skipped a workout, then transferred to Yakteen from Bob Baffert along with other former Baffert trainees, including four entered in the San Felipe.
Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike is likely to launch his 4-year-old campaign in the $300,000 Kentucky Cup Classic on March 25 at Turfway Park.
Rich Strike, who was last seen finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Clark on Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs, had been under consideration for the Group 1, $10 million Dubai World Cup, also to be run March 25. However, after reviewing the logistics of travel to the Middle East, owner Rick Dawson wrote on his Facebook page that he and trainer Eric Reed decided the trip was "not in the best interest of Richie."
When he’s in the right mind, the gelding Royal Ship can deliver a top-class performance good enough to beat some of the nation’s leading runners.
Last July, for example, the Brazilian-bred Royal Ship won his third stakes in the United States in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on dirt at Del Mar, beating Country Grammer in his first start since a win in the Dubai World Cup last March.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Before anybody scoffs at the idea of trainer Gustavo Delgado entering Mage against the likes of Forte and Blazing Sevens in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth off only a single start, consider some of the stunning results the veteran horseman has posted since coming to the United States from his native Venezuela nine years ago.
It might happen this week, or the next week, or the next. Soon enough, Kathleen O’Connell will be the all-time winningest female trainer in North American racing history.
O’Connell began this week with 2,382 career wins, just three behind Kim Hammond, who is winding down her career. Both women have been training for more than 40 years.
“It’s an honor, but it’s not something I set out to do,” O’Connell said recently from her Tampa Bay Downs base. “It basically puts a number on a lifetime. It’s what I do every day.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux has won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap twice in his career - aboard the famous gelding Best Pal in 1992, and a decade later on Milwaukee Brew for the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel.
If Desormeaux wins the $500,000 Big Cap for a third time aboard Stilleto Boy on Saturday, he will not only continue a remarkable comeback from recent personal setbacks, but also join Victor Espinoza and Bill Shoemaker as the only riders to win the historic race in at least three decades.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trevor McCarthy, who is scheduled to return to race-riding next Friday after a three-month absence due to injury, already has a solid stakes mount lined up in Ziaerati, who runs in next Saturday’s $200,000 Busher Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Ziaerati, a daughter of Into Mischief, won her debut Jan. 15 by 8 1/4 lengths. Promiseher America, the runner-up from that race, came back to win her maiden next time out.
Dylan Davis was aboard Ziaerati for her debut win, but has committed to ride a horse for Chad Brown, presumably Shidabhuti.
