Wed, 11/07/2012 - 16:04

Aqueduct: Overdriven finally makes it back to the races

Barbara D. Livingston
Overdriven makes his return to the races Friday. He has not raced since winning the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga on July 24, 2011.

Overdriven, sidelined by various issues since two highly promising victories as a 2-year-old, returns for Repole Stable and Todd Pletcher at Aqueduct on Friday in the Mr. Nasty overnight stakes at seven furlongs.

Seven 3-year-olds entered the $75,000 race, which is carded as race 3. Overdriven drew on the outside with John Velazquez, who was aboard for both of the colt’s blowout wins in July of last year – a debut at Belmont Park that earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, followed by a four-length triumph in the Grade 2 Sanford Stakes.

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 15:17

Woodbine notes: Pender Harbour skipping Autumn

Michael Burns
Pender Harbour will not start in Saturday's Grade 2 Autumn Stakes at Woodbine.

Pender Harbour was expected to be among the entrants for Saturday’s Autumn Stakes, but will not be participating.

“He breezed five-eighths in 1:02.60 the other day, which was okay but certainly wasn’t his best work,” said Mike DePaulo, who trains Pender Harbour for owners Denny Andrews, Sandra Lazaruk, and Bob and Roberta Giffin. “We decided to skip the Autumn and freshen him up for the Sir Barton.”

The $125,000 Sir Barton, a 1 1/16-mile race for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and up, will be run here Dec. 2

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 15:13

Hollywood Park: Home Journey gets audition for Soviet Problem Stakes

The 2-year-old filly Home Journey won her debut at Santa Anita on Oct. 13 in a way that has trainer Mike Puype thinking about stakes in coming months.

Lately, when Puype gears a horse for a stakes it is worth remembering.

Last weekend, Puype won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with the filly Mizdirection, who had not raced since May 27.

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 15:10

Remington Park: The Drifter tries to stretch his speed seven furlongs

Dustin Orona Photography
The Drifter is the most proven horse in the Clever Trevor but the seven-furlong distance may test his stamina.

The Drifter is a standout on paper in Friday night’s $100,000 Clever Trevor for 2-year-olds at Remington Park. He is a multiple stakes winner. He owns the field’s best collection of Beyer Speed Figures. And he has more natural speed than most of his rivals.

But the seven-furlong distance of the Clever Trevor could be a challenge for The Drifter. The race will be his first beyond six furlongs, and there is a significant pace rival drawn to his immediate outside in King Henny.

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 15:02

Churchill Downs: Freshman Dorm climbing ladder for Maker

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Freshman Dorm hasn’t quite made the leap that a few of his stablemates have, but he might well be on his way. Claimed in August at Saratoga for $35,000, the 5-year-old horse won a second-level allowance at first asking before finishing a close second last month at Keeneland as the favorite on the raise into a third-level race.

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 14:58

Los Alamitos: One Dashing Eagle has ambitious campaign planned for 2013

Scott Martinez/Los Alamitos
One Dashing Eagle won his third $1 million race of the year Sunday in the Golden State Milllion Futurity.

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – One Dashing Eagle became the first Quarter Horse to win three seven-figure races in the same year in the Golden State Million Futurity at Los Alamitos on Sunday.

The colt’s primary goal in 2013 is more of the same.

This year, One Dashing Eagle won the Ed Burke Million Futurity at Los Alamitos and the All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs before Sunday’s win. He will have no further starts this year. A missed sustaining payment earlier this year for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity next month has ended his 2-year-old campaign.

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 14:36

Woodbine: Tu Endie Wei retired from racing

Tom Keyser
Tu Endie Wei has been retired from racing and will be bred.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tu Endie Wei , who finished sixth here in last Sunday’s Grade 3 Ontario Fashion at six furlongs, is headed for the breeding shed.

“She’s sound and healthy, same as she was,” said Reade Baker, who has trained the Kentucky-homebred Tu Endie Wei for owner Brereton C. Jones. “She just doesn’t have that fire anymore.”

Tu Endie Wei, by Johar out of Ms. Cornstalk, was Canada’s champion 2-year-old filly in 2011, following in the footsteps of her half-sister Biofuel, the 2009 Sovereign Award winner in that division.

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 13:15

Churchill Downs: Hernandez intends to ride at Gulfstream this winter

Barbara D. Livingston
Brian Hernandez will switch his winter home base from Fair Grounds to Gulfstream Park.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., fresh off his triumph aboard Fort Larned in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, announced Wednesday that he will move his tack to Gulfstream Park for the winter, marking a shift from his longstanding winter base at Fair Grounds.

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 12:26

Woodbine: Courtville looks ready to tackle open company in allowance feature

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Courtville got a dream run along the inside in his Oct. 19 victory over Ontario-sired allowance opposition. He will stretch out in distance in Friday’s featured first-level allowance for open company at Woodbine, and could strike again in the 1 1/16-mile event.

Courtville romped second time out at the meet May 18, in a nonwinners of two allowance route for Ontario-sired stock. He met some formidable opposition June 10 in the nine-furlong Victoria Park Stakes, in which he wound up a distant third behind Prospective and Patrioticandproud.

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 12:11

Oaklawn Park: Horses from Hawthorne will not be allowed on grounds due to herpesvirus situation

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., will not allow horses from Hawthorne Race Course to enter its stable area when it opens on Monday due to six cases of equine herpesvirus found in horses at the Chicago-area racetrack. The first case of EHV-1, a contagious infection that can cause both respiratory and neurological diseases, was diagnosed Oct. 14.