LEXINGTON, Ky. - Eye of the Leopard, a recent private purchase from the Sam-Son Farm powerhouse in Canada, could make his first start for his new trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, before the Keeneland meet ends next Saturday, Oct. 27.
Lukas said he will not run Eye of the Leopard on dirt in the BC Marathon, as had been considered while the 6-year-old horse was trained by Malcolm Pierce for Sam-Son. Eye of the Leopard has earned $913,197.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mike Stidham knows when it’s time to say goodbye. He will do so reluctantly, but realistically, after one of the best horses he has ever trained, Upperline, makes her final start Sunday on the Keeneland turf before going off to the sales ring.
Upperline, an earner of nearly $700,000, is the program favorite in a field of 11 fillies and mares set to go 1 1/2 miles in the $100,000 Dowager, the eighth of nine Sunday races. Upperline, a 5-year-old mare by Maria’s Mon, finished a solid third in the Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes in her last start Oct. 7.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Strategy is not a secret for Comma to the Top, the favorite in the $65,000 Big Bear Handicap on Sunday at Santa Anita.
“We’re going to put him on the lead,” trainer Peter Miller said. “For this kind of race, I think we’ve got no other choice. We’ll be winging. We’ll be in front.”
No kidding. Five horses entered the Big Bear, a stakes at a mile on the main track that Comma to the Top can win if he carries his speed.
Miller is confident the 4-year-old gelding will stay, even though he has not won a route race since he was 2.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Animal Kingdom is scheduled to have his final work for the Breeders’ Cup Mile on the Keeneland turf course next Friday morning, Oct. 26, after arriving here Monday from his longtime base, the Fair Hill training center in northern Maryland.
Trainer Graham Motion said Friday that Animal Kingdom, the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner, will then be flown out the following day, Oct. 27, on a Louisville charter to Southern California.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
ARCADIA, Calif. – Despite finishing last in her most recent start, Reneesgotzip remains under consideration for the Breeders’ Cup, trainer Peter Miller said Thursday. A 3-year-old filly, Reneesgotzip finished last of seven against males in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 6.
“We’re probably going to nominate to the Filly and Mare Sprint, and possibly the Turf Sprint,” Miller said. “We could run in either one of those, or neither.”
FORT ERIE, Ontario – With Fort Erie expected to close permanently following the conclusion of the current meeting Oct. 30, many trainers here are uncertain of their future in horse racing.
But one trainer who has cause for optimism is 42-year-old Marty Drexler, who has been successful since transferring his stable from Assiniboia Downs in Manitoba several seasons ago.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Rebounding in a big way from an uncharacteristically dull effort in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Hymn Book ($3.50) responded to a drop in class with an easy victory in Friday’s Frank “Pancho” Martin stakes, an overnight stakes worth $80,750 after two late scratches whittled the field to four.
Hymn Book took his customary spot at the back soon after the start, as the import Xin Xu Lin set early fractions of 22.67 and 45.56 seconds over the sloppy track, while pressed by Rule and Small Town.
My Happy Face, a stubborn second to Dreaming of Julia in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park on Oct. 6, will not run in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, owner Michael Dubb confirmed Friday.
Instead, My Happy Face will make her next start in the Grade 3, $150,000 Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 4.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – Additional information has emerged on the investigation by the state into Minnesota Racing Commission assistant executive director Mary Manney.
Manney was placed on paid administrative leave Sept. 7 pending an investigation for alleged insubordination. According to her attorney, Sheila Englemeier, Manney on Oct. 4 filed a formal complaint of sex discrimination against commission chairman Jesse Overton.
Overton said the complaint is without merit.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Ashlee Brnjas will be hoping to win one for Niigon when she sends out Reconnect, a daughter of that late stallion, for Sunday’s Bunty Lawless Stakes.
Niigon, who died suddenly last Sunday at age 11, was owned by Chiefswood Stable but was standing at the Colebrook Farm of Ashlee’s father, owner and breeder John Brnjas, and was the sire of many of the outfit’s runners.
