LEXINGTON, Ky. – One of the more impressive maiden victories of the Keeneland meet was posted last Friday by a 4-year-old filly named Loved, who toyed with the opposition when earning an 86 Beyer Speed Figure in an 11 1/2-length romp going 1 1/16 miles.
Brendan Walsh trains Loved, a Godolphin homebred daughter of Medaglia d’Oro out of Velvety, a pedigree that makes her a half-sister to Maxfield, the most accomplished horse Walsh has trained and another Godolphin homebred.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Recency will be on the side of Personal Best when the gray Tapit filly runs Friday in the closing-day Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland – and she’ll need every edge she can get.
“I didn’t think War Like Goddess would be in there,” said Shug McGaughey, who trains Personal Best for owner-breeder Joe Allen. “No doubt she’s a top filly. But we’ve been running lately and she hasn’t. Maybe that’ll help us.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The 3-year-old filly Shidabhuti, who had her three-race winning streak snapped when finishing third in the Grade 3 Gazelle at Aqueduct on April 8, returned to the worktab Saturday morning, breezing a half-mile in 49.94 seconds over Belmont Park’s main track.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Now that he has gone through his allowance conditions, Unbridled Bomber will be returning to stakes company for his next start. When and where that will be has yet to be determined.
Unbridled Bomber rebounded from a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Queens County Stakes on Jan. 7 to win a third-level allowance by nine lengths on April 16, earning a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure in the process. In that win, going a one-turn mile, Unbridled Bomber showed speed heretofore unseen in any of his previous races.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- The connections of Evvie Jets, winner of last Sunday’s Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct, are not in a hurry to run their mare back, but if the Grade 3, $175,000 Beaugay Stakes at Belmont Park on May 7 comes up a small field that race could become an option.
If not, then Evvie Jets could be considered for the Grade 1, $500,000 Just a Game on June 9 at Belmont Park, “if it’s not going to be crazy-tough,” trainer Mertkan Kantarmaci said.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Time for Trouble posted a $37.50 upset of the featured eighth race Thursday at Keeneland, but the victory will come at a cost for his jockey, Joe Talamo, who struck the Irish-bred with his whip eight times, two over the limit imposed by new crop rules mandated by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.
Talamo will forfeit 10 percent of his share of the purse, or $7,347, and will have to sit out one day of racing, which the 33-year-old rider said will be one of the last three cards of the Keeneland spring meet this coming week.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The debut scarcely could have been any flashier. American Rascal, a royally bred 2-year-old colt, won the second race Thursday at Keeneland by a widening 10 1/4 lengths that even had Wesley Ward grasping for superlatives.
“It’s humbling,” said Ward, whose dominance in early season 2-year-old races is as pronounced as ever this year. “Some of the horses the owners give me to train for them are just incredibly talented. Obviously, this colt is unbelievably fast.”
Live racing at Laurel Park in Maryland has been canceled “indefinitely,” according to a one-sentence announcement posted on social media by the track’s parent company Friday.
It is unclear what led to the cancellation. Representatives of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and 1/ST Racing, which owns Laurel, did not immediately return phone calls Friday morning.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was the fastest few minutes in sports, at least for the day. A flurry of important workouts from the top contenders for the May 6 Kentucky Derby all took place within a matter of moments early Friday at Churchill Downs, with their connections later expressing their satisfaction with how those horses are progressing with a little more than two weeks to the big race.
