LEXINGTON, Ky. – Cam Gambolati has never won a race at Keeneland, let alone a stakes race. Oh, he has had a winner in Kentucky, mind you, but his experience at Keeneland has been limited.
“I got beat a head in a little turf stakes quite a few years back,” Gambolati recalled. “I’ve only run a handful of horses there.”
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio – The 26th running of the Best of Ohio series of five stakes for Ohio-breds offers $350,000 in purses on Friday’s eight-race card at Thistledown, making for Ohio’s richest day of racing this year. Traditionally, the races play a strong roll in determining year-end Ohio-bred divisional champions.
Los Alamitos officials have held discussions with representatives of the Thoroughbred Owners of California and Southern California racetracks about a possible expansion of the Orange County Quarter Horse track to accommodate Thoroughbred racing.
Leader board for qualifying points to the 2013 Kentucky Derby, which will be run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday, May 4, 2013. Churchill Downs has moved to a points system to determine the field for the Derby, scrapping the previous system of graded stakes earnings. Points are earned by the top four finishers in designated Kentucky Derby prep races. Earnings in non-restricted stakes races serve as a tie-breaker.
Flashy Ways won $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on turf on Monday’s program, the first stakes win for trainer Richard Baltas in 11 years.
Baltas won the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes in 2001 with Freedom Crest, who was later 13th in the BC Classic at Belmont Park. Since then, Baltas has had a small stable and worked as an assistant trainer to Barry Abrams. He reopened a public stable last fall.
In the six weeks since he finished third in the I’m Smokin Stakes at Del Mar on Labor Day, Strong Wind is a changed colt.
“He’s grown six to eight inches,” trainer Steve Knapp said. “His body has spread out.”
The new, longer Strong Wind makes his first start around two turns in Saturday’s $250,000 California Cup Juvenile over 1 1/16 miles. Strong Wind won the Graduation Stakes over 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 1 and was third in the six-furlong I’m Smokin Stakes.
In a pattern that has worked for him before, Gantry will ship early to Santa Anita to be able to work over the Southern California track in advance of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 3.
The last time the horse, who is based in Louisiana, ran in a major stakes, he traveled to Florida well in advance of the Grade 2 Smile to get a drill in at Calder. Gantry won the Smile, a Win and You’re In race, by five lengths and received a fees-paid berth into the BC Sprint as well as a $10,000 travel allowance to Southern California.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Chad Brown did his best imitation of a Todd Pletcher rampage the last few days, sweeping 2-year-old turf stakes at Keeneland and Belmont Park to further stamp himself as one of racing’s major up-and-coming horsemen.
Brown won the Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes here Sunday with Balance the Books, then followed it up Monday at Belmont by taking the Pilgrim with Noble Tune and the Miss Grillo with Watsdachances.
ARCADIA, Calif. – As a handicapping factor, post position is less relevant than the basics of condition, class, speed, and pace.
Try telling that to trainer Mike Puype and jockey Garrett Gomez, whose chance to win the race-7 feature with comebacker Vionnet on Thursday at Santa Anita was significantly compromised at the draw.
The 3-year-old filly is the “class” of the field in the mile turf race for first-level allowance fillies and mares, but Vionnet drew post 11 in the 11-horse field.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Gervinho is bound for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 3 after winning the Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita on Monday.
His stablemate Winding Way, a stakes-winning female sprinter at Del Mar, will pass the Breeders’ Cup after her first loss Sunday.
That was the approach trainer Carla Gaines envisioned Monday for early November.
