ELMONT, N.Y. - The New York stewards suspended apprentice jockey Jaime Torres 14 calendar days for his ride aboard Wonder Girl in Monday’s second race at Belmont Park.
Torres has appealed the suspension.
Wonder Girl crossed the finish line first, but Torres allowed her to drift out several paths in the stretch, carrying out the runner-up Nightsaber, who, under Irad Ortiz Jr., finished second, beaten one length.
ELMONT, N.Y. -- The Foxes, a multiple Group 2 winner in Great Britain, drew the outside post in a field of 11 3-year-olds entered Monday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational scheduled for 1 1/4 miles over Belmont Park’s inner turf course.
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has been booked to ride recent Santa Anita stakes winner Geaux Rocket Ride in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes on July 22 at Monmouth Park.
On Monday at Santa Anita, Smith worked Geaux Rocket Ride for the first time, going six furlongs in 1:12.60.
“He did things his own way,” Smith said. “I’m excited to get the opportunity to ride him.
“He’s forward. He’s a little fresh right now.”
Trainer Doug O’Neill may have as many as two runners in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs on July 29 at Del Mar.
Anarchist, second to 2022 champion male sprinter Elite Power in the Grade 2 True North Stakes on June 10 at Belmont Park, may be joined by Kid Corleone, a recent allowance race winner at Santa Anita.
Anarchist, a winner of 2 of 10 starts, won the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier Stakes at six furlongs on May 14 at Woodbine, his first stakes win. Anarchist worked a half-mile in 48 seconds on Sunday at Santa Anita.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Albeit for different reasons, jockeys Manny Franco and Eric Cancel will sit out the final three days of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet.
Franco will miss the Friday-through-Sunday programs owing to a careless riding suspension handed him by the stewards for his ride on Chasing the Crown in the second race on June 22. Chasing the Crown finished second, but interfered with third-place finisher Verbal. The stewards disqualified Chasing the Crown and placed him behind Verbal.
Franco’s 28 wins have him third in the Belmont jockey standings.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After giving some consideration to stretching champion female sprinter Goodnight Olive out in distance, trainer Chad Brown said the decision was made to keep her sprinting. She will be pointed to the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga on Aug. 26.
That would likely be her last start before the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Goodnight Olive won both those races last year.
“I want to make sure she’s fresh for the Breeders’ Cup,” Brown said.
ELMONT, N.Y. – It would appear that Bill Parcells has been asked a lot lately about his new trainer Melanie Giddings.
“Melanie Giddings is more popular than Taylor Swift,” said Parcells, the Hall of Fame football coach.
When it comes to the Parcells-owned 3-year-old filly Maple Leaf Mel, no one could fault Giddings if she was to be heard singing a few bars of the Swift hit “You Belong With Me.”
After a near-perfect start to his career at Golden Gate Fields, Prince Abu Dhabi will race away from the Bay Area for the first time in Saturday’s $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby at Los Alamitos.
“We’ll test him against the SoCal horses,” trainer Blaine Wright said on Sunday. “We’ll give it a shot.
“He gets to stay with straight 3-year-olds. There aren’t a lot of races out there for him.”
The Los Alamitos Derby, run at 1 1/8 miles, will be the longest start for Prince Abu Dhabi, who has won 4 of 5 starts and earned $124,200 for owners Steve and Lance Kinross.
ELMONT, N.Y. - New York-based trainer Ray Handal has been issued a provisional suspension by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit for the presence of a banned substance found in one of his horses who raced at Belmont Park on May 28.
The suspension, which under HIWU rules for banned substances could be for two years and carries up to a $25,000 fine.
Handal told Daily Racing Form that he did not do anything wrong and that he has requested a hearing with HIWU and expects to have one in the coming week.
