Tue, 11/13/2012 - 13:31

Hollywood Park: Puype gets another Breeders’ Cup winner

Emily Shields
Calidoscopio has 9 wins in 30 starts, while he is just 1 for 10 on turf.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Trainer Mike Puype won his first Breeders’ Cup race earlier this month, and eventually doubled the number of Breeders’ Cup winners in his barn.

Mizdirection provided Puype with his first win in a Breeders’ Cup race, in the Turf Sprint, but he also now trains Calidoscopio, the Argentine import who won the BC Marathon and has remained in this country.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with him yet,” Puype said at Betfair Hollywood Park, where he is based. “He’s a hard horse to spot.”

Tue, 11/13/2012 - 13:01

Hollywood: Callaghan saddles another good-looking import in Qaraaba

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The filly-mare turf division in California was bolstered recently by an outstanding U.S. debut from Rhythm of Light, emphatic winner of the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

Now trained by Simon Callaghan, Rhythm of Light will take a break and return in March in the Grade 2 Santa Ana Handicap at Santa Anita.

Meanwhile, Callaghan will unveil another well-regarded female turf import Thursday at Betfair Hollywood Park. Qaraaba makes her U.S. debut in race 7, a second-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Tue, 11/13/2012 - 12:55

Golden Gate: Gold Rush likely to match My Best Bet vs. Hollendorfer duo

Vassar Photography
Outside Nashville pulls away in the stretch of the Golden Nugget under jockey Dennis Carr.

After My Best Bet scored a better-than-looked win in a one-mile optional claiming race last Friday at Golden Gate Fields, punching his ticket to the $75,000 Gold Rush on Dec. 8, his trainer, Billy Morey, paid close attention to Saturday’s $55,100 Golden Nugget at Golden Gate Fields.

Morey came away very impressed by the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained duo of winner Outside Nashville and third-place finisher Zeewat, both of whom figure to challenge My Best Bet in the Gold Rush.

Tue, 11/13/2012 - 12:48

Churchill Downs: Connelly’s filly looking like a beauty

Coady Photography
Sweet Cassiopeia has won 3 of her last 4 starts.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Sweet Cassiopeia is a 4-year-old filly whose name comes from a queen in Greek mythology. According to Wikipedia, the queen “boasted about her unrivaled beauty,” and at some point in history, Cassiopeia became a famous constellation.

Tue, 11/13/2012 - 11:37

Golden Gate: Frey returns to saddle early from broken leg

Horsephotos
Jockey Kyle Frey will miss eight to 12 months as the result of a broken leg.

Kyle Frey guided Kissn Tristan to a third-place finish Sunday in the third race, his first race since breaking the femur in his right leg in a July 14 spill at Parx Racing. Frey, 20, got his start at Golden Gate Fields in 2010 and received the Eclipse Award as the leading apprentice jockey last year while riding primarily at Parx, near Philadelphia.

After Frey broke his leg, doctors told him he wouldn’t be able to ride for at least six months and maybe for up to a year. For those not keeping count, he returned to riding in just short of four months.

Mon, 11/12/2012 - 16:39

Delta Downs: Itsmyluckyday comes into Jackpot on a roll

Itsmyluckyday was part of a small contingent of Florida-based horses who were traveling to Louisiana on Monday to start in major stakes on the Delta Downs Jackpot card Saturday. Itsmyluckyday is being pointed for the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot, while his traveling companions, Salamera and Rose to Gold, are shipping in for the Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess. The horses vanned out of Calder late morning Monday and were due to arrive at the Vinton, La., track before 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Mon, 11/12/2012 - 16:26

Aqueduct: New York Stallion Series races have chalky favorites

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Sunny Desert, claimed for $35,000 last December, has earned $200,000 in 2012.

A Wednesday card at the Big A is spiced up by two stakes and a two-day carryover in the pick six of $89,489.

Odds-on favorites loom large in both divisions of the New York Stallion Series at seven furlongs. Sunny Desert looks every bit of 3-5 in the Staten Island for fillies and mares, and Sportswriter may be even shorter than that in the Thunder Rumble for colts and geldings.

Mon, 11/12/2012 - 15:17

Woodbine notes: Pierce and Carroll dominate stakes action

Michael Burns
Up With the Birds, with Eurico Da Silva riding, wins the Coronation Futurity.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainers Malcolm Pierce and Josie Carroll will be shipping out their first loads Thursday for the Fair Grounds, as is their customary practice when the Woodbine meeting begins to wind down into the off-season.

Last weekend, both trainers picked up some traveling money, as Up With the Birds captured Saturday’s $250,000 Coronation Futurity for Pierce and James Street won the $154,200 Autumn for Carroll, who came right back on Sunday with Leinan in the $155,500 Glorious Song.

Mon, 11/12/2012 - 14:47

Calder notes: Kaplan dealing with life without Musical Romance

Coady Photography @ Calder Casino & Race Course
Musical Romance, with Juan Leyva aboard, wins the Mike Sherman.

MIAMI – Trainer Bill Kaplan left south Florida for Santa Anita two weeks ago with an Eclipse Award winner in his barn. He returned the following week to a $1.6 million empty stall, the price his 2011 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Musical Romance brought at the Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Mon, 11/12/2012 - 14:35

Churchill Downs: Debase the Dollar poised to advance off maiden win

Barbara D. Livingston
Debase the Dollar ran five races before winning her maiden at Keeneland in October.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It took a well-bred filly named Debase the Dollar five races to get through her maiden condition. Now that she has the hang of winning, the 3-year-old filly might well make it a habit.

“She sure has trained well since coming down here since that last win” at Keeneland, noted Kenny McCarthy, the Churchill Downs-based assistant to trainer Bill Mott. “Hopefully that will be reflected when we run her back Wednesday afternoon.”