SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Maple Leaf Mel, the undefeated two-time graded stakes-winning New York-bred, completed preparations for next Saturday’s Grade 1 Test by working a half-mile in 49.22 seconds on Friday morning over the Oklahoma training track.
It was her second work – and almost a carbon copy of her previous move – since she won the Grade 3 Victory Ride on July 8 at Belmont Park.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – General Jim, a two-time graded stakes winner on dirt this year, will return to the turf in next Friday’s Grade 2, $500,000 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes.
General Jim, a son of Into Mischief, won the Grade 3, Swale at Gulfstream Park in March and the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs in May. Most recently, however, he finished sixth, beaten 16 3/4 lengths, in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park.
Exercise rider Bulfrano Andres Bahena, who suffered serious back as well as various other injuries in a riding mishap Sunday at Gulfstream Park, has been upgraded from critical to stable condition his wife, Monica Garcia, advised on Friday.
Bahena underwent successful surgery on Wednesday at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami to stabilize his back but suffered significant nerve damage according to Garcia and faces a very long road of physical therapy and recovery according to his doctors. She said the long range prognosis remains “unknown” at the present time.
Del Mar is planning a mandatory payout in the 20-cent Rainbow pick six on Sunday, the first such promotion of the track’s summer meeting.
On Saturday, the pick six will have a guaranteed payout of $1 million if there is a single winning ticket.
Through the first three days of the meeting, which began July 21, there were no single winning tickets in the pick six, leaving a carryover of $195,122 for Thursday’s program.
Geaux Rocket Ride, winner of the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational for 3-year-olds at Monmouth Park last Saturday, returned to trainer Richard Mandella’s Del Mar stable earlier this week, and is scheduled to have his next start on Labor Day weekend.
Mandella said on Thursday that he has expanded the list of possible races for Geaux Rocket Ride to include the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile Sept. 3, as well as the previously mentioned Grade 1 Pacific Classic against older horses at 1 1/4 miles Sept. 2.
Topper T emerged from his 110 Beyer Speed Figure performance last Sunday at Prairie Meadows in outstanding condition and likely will make his next start in the overnight ranks, trainer Jon Arnett said Wednesday.
Topper T won a $30,000 claiming race by more than 18 lengths and was awarded the year’s third-highest Beyer for the performance in which he covered six furlongs on a fast track in 1:08.38.
“He came out of it great,” Arnett said. “He really came out of it good.”
Armando Ayuso, one of the top riders in Northern California in recent years, has moved to Del Mar for the second consecutive summer.
Ayuso, who has won 88 races this year, is booked to ride Smiling Lady in Thursday’s $175,000 Fleet Treat Stakes for statebred 3-year-old fillies and has two mounts on Friday’s program. Agent Bill Castle will represent Ayuso.
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Dicey Mo Chara has had a steady presence in longer graded stakes on turf in Southern California in recent years. He has not been a consistent visitor to the winner’s circle, however.
In 13 starts since the beginning of 2022, Dicey Mo Chara has started in 12 stakes and has won twice at 1 1/8 miles, leaving trainer Leonard Powell hopeful that a start at that distance in Sunday’s Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes will work for the 5-year-old.
“I think he can win,” Powell said. “I hope he can win. His last win was a mile and an eighth.”
Jockey Abel Cedillo, who suffered a fractured bone in his neck in a one-horse spill shortly after the start of the fourth race at Del Mar on Sunday, was released from a local hospital on Monday evening.
Cedillo said on Wednesday morning that he has a doctor’s appointment next week, around the same time he hopes to begin physical therapy. Doctors have told Cedillo that his recovery will take four to six weeks.
“I’m better, but a little pain,” Cedillo said. “I’m home and I’m recovering.”
Cedillo said he plans to stay in the Del Mar area in coming weeks.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With Saturday’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy never under serious consideration, Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo continued preparations for his lone goal here this summer, the Grade 1 Travers, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.27 seconds before galloping out in impressive fashion once again, with jockey Javier Castellano aboard, shortly after the renovation break Wednesday at Saratoga.
