OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Add Point of Entry to the list of North American-based horses being considered for a race in Dubai in 2013.
Point of Entry, winner of three Grade 1 marathon turf races in 2012 and runner-up to Little Mike in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, will run in 2013 with the $5 million Sheema Classic on March 30 on the Dubai World Cup card at Meydan as an early-season objective, according to trainer Shug McGaughey. The Sheema Classic is run at 1 1/2 miles on turf.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Grandeur seemed to win the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 with something in reserve. He can prove it when he starts in the first Grade 1 race of his career in Sunday’s $250,000 Hollywood Derby at Betfair Hollywood Park.
Trained in England by Jeremy Noseda, Grandeur closed from eighth in a field of nine in the Twilight Derby to win by a half-length under jockey William Buick. The manner of his finish suggested that he would have won by a wider margin in a longer race.
Neck ’n Neck, the late-blooming 3-year-old who would have been one of the favorites Friday in the Clark, underwent successful surgery for a fractured sesamoid Wednesday at the Woodford Equine Hospital in Versailles, Ky., according to trainer Ian Wilkes.
“The doctors said everything went very well,” said Wilkes. “Now we’ll wait and see how he does for the next six months or so.”
Neck ’n Neck, a 3-year-old colt by Flower Alley, won the Indiana Derby and Ack Ack Handicap in his last two starts before incurring the injury in a routine workout Sunday.
Applauding will make her next start at Oaklawn Park after remaining unbeaten in three career races with a workmanlike triumph here Wednesday under Joe Rocco Jr. in a second-level allowance sprint. She earned a 77 Beyer, leading throughout, for a 1 1/4-length victory in the six-furlong race.
Applauding, a 3-year-old filly owned by Ramona Bass and trained by Al Stall Jr., has been closely followed by racing fans after setting the 6 1/2-furlong Polytrack record at Keeneland in winning her career debut in October 2011.
Separate Thoughts was second in the Golden State Million Futurity at Los Alamitos on Nov. 4, losing by 2 1/2 lengths to the nation’s leading 2-year-old, One Dashing Eagle.
The loss was a comprehensive defeat, but not necessarily a setback. No horse has beaten One Dashing Eagle in six races since the spring.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Town Prize, a talented 3-year-old trained by Darwin Banach, had been under serious consideration for Sunday’s Grade 3 Kennedy Road Stakes at six furlongs.
And Town Prize’s presence would have been welcomed by the connections of many starters in the Kennedy Road, with hopes that his freshness and high turn of early foot would make the task of favorite Essence Hit Man more difficult.
That scenario became moot when entries came out for the Kennedy Road on Thursday and Town Prize was not in the lineup.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Infrattini earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 105 when he broke the track record for a mile Thursday at Churchill Downs in a breakthrough performance that has his connections hoping for a great 2013.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If ever a horse was overqualified for a stakes race, Boisterous might be it. As a winning favorite in the Grade 2 Red Smith at Aqueduct earlier this month, isn’t he a proverbial “free space” when wheeling back Sunday in the Grade 3, $100,000 River City Handicap on the closing-day program of the Churchill Downs fall meet?
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Essence Hit Man returns from a layoff at Woodbine on Sunday, when he will defend his title in the Grade 3, $150,000 Kennedy Road Stakes. Sadly, his trainer and co-owner, Audre Cappuccitti, died Monday, and the rapid gelding is now trained by Dave Cotey.
Essence Hit Man captured last year’s six-furlong Kennedy Road convincingly, capping a season that saw him garner the Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion sprinter.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The pick six paid $6,935 at Betfair Hollywood Park on Thursday after bettors added $2,651,873 to the pool, chasing a carryover of $560,134 from Sunday.
There were 285 winning tickets. While longshots led to the carryover, the Thursday program was largely formful.
The first three winners were the second choices in the betting – Blushing Martha ($8.20), Beau Royale ($6.80) and Private Affair ($6.60). In the seventh race, the fourth leg of the bet, Church Avenue led throughout as the favorite, paying $6.20.
