ELMONT, N.Y. – It would appear that Bill Parcells has been asked a lot lately about his new trainer Melanie Giddings.
“Melanie Giddings is more popular than Taylor Swift,” said Parcells, the Hall of Fame football coach.
When it comes to the Parcells-owned 3-year-old filly Maple Leaf Mel, no one could fault Giddings if she was to be heard singing a few bars of the Swift hit “You Belong With Me.”
After a near-perfect start to his career at Golden Gate Fields, Prince Abu Dhabi will race away from the Bay Area for the first time in Saturday’s $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby at Los Alamitos.
“We’ll test him against the SoCal horses,” trainer Blaine Wright said on Sunday. “We’ll give it a shot.
“He gets to stay with straight 3-year-olds. There aren’t a lot of races out there for him.”
The Los Alamitos Derby, run at 1 1/8 miles, will be the longest start for Prince Abu Dhabi, who has won 4 of 5 starts and earned $124,200 for owners Steve and Lance Kinross.
ELMONT, N.Y. - New York-based trainer Ray Handal has been issued a provisional suspension by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit for the presence of a banned substance found in one of his horses who raced at Belmont Park on May 28.
The suspension, which under HIWU rules for banned substances could be for two years and carries up to a $25,000 fine.
Handal told Daily Racing Form that he did not do anything wrong and that he has requested a hearing with HIWU and expects to have one in the coming week.
The number of musculoskeletal fatalities in racing or training at California tracks has decreased sharply compared to a year ago, according to state equine medical director Jeff Blea.
The California Horse Racing Board had recorded 26 musculoskeletal fatalities since July 1, 2022, compared to 39 in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, and 43 in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The current fiscal year ended on Friday.
Jockey Assael Espinoza, who led the standings at Golden Gate Fields earlier this year, has been suspended seven racing days for multiple violations of rules pertaining to excessive use of the whip, according to a ruling published on June 25 by stewards at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton.
She has not raced since November and has not won since August.
The promising 3-year-old filly Vegas Magic will be asked to overcome a lengthy layoff when she starts for the first time in 2023 in Tuesday’s Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos.
A winner of 3 of 5 starts, Vegas Magic was 10th of 13 at 54-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland last November in her most recent race.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo has been in Saratoga for a few weeks now and while he’s in regular training he has not yet returned to the work tab.
Trainer Jena Antonucci said Friday that Arcangelo could have his first work back the middle of next week. While Antonucci said nothing is set in stone, she indicated as though training up to the Travers on Aug. 26 is the initial plan.
“Obviously, we know the Dandy and Travers are sitting there, there would likely be a heavier focus to the Travers than the Dandy,” Antonucci said.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Forte and Tapit Trice, noses apart when second and third, respectively, behind Arcangelo in the Belmont Stakes on June 10, both were on the work tab Friday at Belmont Park as they prepare for the second half of their 3-year-old seasons.
Veteran jockey Deshawn Parker sustained serious injuries in a pre-race accident Tuesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
Parker’s pelvis was fractured in four places, his tailbone broken in two places when his mount in the eighth race on Tuesday, Dabney, spooked, reared, flipped, and landed on Parker. Parker’s agent, Jimmy McInerney, said the filly landed on Parker, rolled back across him, and then stepped on Parker as she got to her feet.
California owner and breeder Ellen Jackson retired from training this week and is downsizing her breeding operation in Northern California.
Jackson, 68, said on Wednesday that she has turned over her 16-horse racing stable to longtime assistant Alberto Ruvalcaba, who will have his first two runners at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif., on Saturday.
“He’s been my assistant trainer for so many years,” Jackson said. “I handed everything over to him.”
