Smile Happy started his 3-year-old campaign looking like a serious 2022 Kentucky Derby hope. His 3-year-old season ended after a tepid eighth-place finish in the Derby, and Smile Happy posted his first timed workout since April when he went three furlongs in 37.60 seconds on Dec. 31 at Fair Grounds.
Trainer Kenny McPeek said Smile Happy was taken out of training with distal bone bruising following the Derby.
Meraas, a 2 1/4-length winner of a second-level allowance at Aqueduct on Saturday, will be pointed to the $1.5 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint on the undercard of the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 25.
It is expected that Meraas will head to Saudi Arabia along with Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Elite Power, who defeated Maraas by 4 1/2 lengths in a second-level allowance Sept. 3 at Saratoga. Elite Power went on to win the Grade 2 Vosburgh and Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- Cyberknife and Art Collector, Grade 1 winners each with more than $2 million in lifetime earnings, and Defunded, hero of the Grade 1 Awesome Again for two-time Pegasus World Cup-winning trainer Bob Baffert, headline a list of a dozen horses who have been tendered invitations to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational to be decided at 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Given Arctic Arrogance’s tendency to put on weight quickly, trainer Linda Rice thought it best not to wait too long between starts for the 3-year-old colt. That, as much as anything, is why Rice has opted to run Arctic Arrogance in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.
Rice entered Arctic Arrogance as well as recent claim Valenzan Day in the Jerome, the first stakes for 3-year-olds in 2023 on this circuit and one that offers qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby to the first five finishers (10-4-3-2-1). A field of eight was entered Wednesday.
Sam Houston Race Park will open Friday with all of its traditional trappings in place – from a reduced 12 percent takeout on multi-race wagers to the $800,000 Houston Racing Festival – but the reach of its simulcast signal will be limited.
Due to an ongoing impasse between the Texas Racing Commission and the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, Sam Houston’s races can only be exported to other racetracks in Texas and international locales.
Yuugiri, a recent allowance winner in her first start since the Kentucky Oaks, could run next in the Carousel on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn, according to trainer Rodolphe Brisset. The filly earned a career-high Beyer of 90 for her Dec. 30 win at Oaklawn.
“I think she looks like she wants to fire when she’s fresh,” Brisset said. “I was very curious to see what she was going to do. I think I’m going to wait for that, not rush anything.”
Brisset said he will take things race to race with Yuugiri, with a long-term goal the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland.
It’s about 2,000 miles from Calgary, Alberta, to Hot Springs, Ark., and that’s the journey trainer Robertino Diodoro’s parents have made to be with their son as he nears a career milestone of 3,000 wins.
Diodoro is the leading trainer at his winter base of Oaklawn, and through Tuesday had registered 2,997 wins in Thoroughbred races. They have come in his native Canada and the United States. Diodoro also is actively racing at Turf Paradise, Delta Downs, and Sam Houston.
It was a New Year’s weekend to remember for Arkansas-based owner Frank Fletcher.
A day after his Frank’s Rockette won the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl on Dec. 31 at Gulfstream Park, he was at his home track of Oaklawn to watch Victory Formation capture the first Kentucky Derby points race of the year, the $250,000 Smarty Jones. Fletcher races the undefeated Victory Formation with Spendthrift Farm.
Turfway Park officially divides its roughly four months of racing into two meets – the holiday meet, which ran from Nov. 29 through Dec. 31, and the winter/spring meet, getting underway now. The holiday meet ended with jockey Gerardo Corrales, trainer Paulo Lobo, and owner Larry Best’s OXO Equine winning their respective meet titles.
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