INGLEWOOD, Calif. - California Flag, the winner of the 2009 BC Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, but only 13th behind Mizdirection on Saturday, has been retired, trainer Brian Koriner said.
An 8-year-old gelding owned by Barbara Card, E-Racing.com, Kevin Jacobson, and John Fradkin, California Flag ended his career with 11 wins in 27 starts and earnings of $1,288,825.
“He’ll go home in a couple of days,” Koriner said. “It was a good run.”
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The Matriarch Stakes has not been completely ruled out for Mizdirection, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita last Saturday.
Trainer Mike Puype said Mizdirection is likely to make her next start in the Monrovia Stakes, a race she won earlier this year, at 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in late December or early January. The stakes schedule for Santa Anita’s winter-spring meeting has not been published.
Puype said that Mizdirection is likely to start in a one-mile race next year.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Rhythm of Light won her U.S. debut in the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes at Santa Anita last Sunday, but is unlikely to start again this year, trainer Simon Callaghan said on Wednesday.
After the race, Rhythm of Light was mentioned as a possible starter for the $250,000 Matriarch Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park on Nov. 25, a Grade 1 turf race over a mile for fillies and mares. Callaghan said she is likely to be rested until early 2013 instead.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
