OCEANPORT, N.J. – Get Serious and Tune Me In are both on track for a rematch in the Grade 3 Cliff Hanger on Labor Day weekend at Monmouth Park.
They had an intense get-acquainted session in the Grade 3 Oceanport on the Haskell undercard.
Get Serious, a two-time Oceanport winner, fired right to the front as expected, only to find 25-1 shot Tune Me In running right with him.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The current month already is looming as a memorable one for trainer Catherine Day Phillips, as Jambalaya, her multiple Grade 1 stakes winner, will be inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame on Aug. 16.
Jambalaya’s first major success came here in the 2005 Breeders’ Stakes, which Day Phillips also had won the previous year with A Bit O’Gold, and Sammy Maudlin will be looking to give the trainer a third Breeders’ victory when he goes postward here Sunday in the 1 1/2-mile turf race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The first objective after Scherer Magic won the Grade 3 Hollywood Juvenile Championship at Betfair Hollywood Park on July 14 was to invest in the gelding’s future.
Owners Gary and Cecil Barber nominated Scherer Magic to the Breeders’ Cup program for $12,000, with the hope that he can start in one of the juvenile races at Santa Anita on Nov. 2-3.
[Complete coverage of racing at Del Mar: News, PPs, and video]
Trainer Keith Nations hopes to do a lot of celebrating Sunday when his wife comes to Northern California wine country from Seattle to celebrate her birthday.
He’s hoping to add to the festivities with a pair of trips to the winner’s circle in the $50,000 Jess Jackson Owners’ Handicap and the $50,000 Joseph T. Grace Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa.
Nations will send out Hexbreaker against seven rivals in the five-furlong Jess Jackson and Control Seeker in the 1 1/16-mile Joseph T. Grace. Both races are for 3-year-olds and up on the turf.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – What a Score will try and carry her considerable speed around three turns for the first time in a $25,000 claiming race that will serve as Sunday’s feature at Hastings. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies drew seven horses and goes as the seventh race.
What a Score is coming off a front-running win over Clarisse B in a $12,500 claiming race going 6 1/2 furlongs July 21. It was her first start for trainer Jim Brown, who claimed her on July 7 for $7,500 on behalf of Shamrock Racing Stable Ltd.
Churchill Downs announced Friday that David Lehr will follow in the footsteps of his older brother Butch as track superintendent at its flagship track in Louisville, Ky., effective immediately.
Butch Lehr, 63, retired at the end of the Churchill spring meet, July 1. Except for a two-year stint in the Army, David Lehr, 59, has worked for Churchill since 1972, much of that time under his brother. His tenure at Churchill also includes 11 years as director of operations at the nearby Trackside training facility.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Itsmyluckyday was the right horse at the right price for trainer Eddie Plesa Jr., who bought him at the Ocala 2-year-old sales in March.
The colt gets a chance to repay that confidence in the $60,000 Tyro Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park.
The Tyro, at five furlongs on the grass, is the traditional prep for the meet’s top juvenile event: the Grade 3 Sapling at six furlongs on the main track on Sept. 1.
Plesa took home Itsmyluckyday, a son of Lawyer Ron, for $110,000.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Groupie Doll, the leading candidate for a 2012 Eclipse Award in the filly-mare sprint decision, had her first workout since recovering from a minor hock injury when breezing a half-mile in 49.40 seconds Friday morning over a fast track at Churchill Downs.
Trainer Buff Bradley, who bred and co-owns the standout 4-year-old filly with his father, Fred Bradley, said he is very pleased with the progress Groupie Doll has made in recent weeks.
“It was a nice, easy move this morning, and she came back good,” Bradley said.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Cryptic Message will put her perfect record on the line here Sunday when she faces six other Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies in the $125,000 Nandi Stakes, the supporting feature on the Breeders’ Stakes program.
Trained by Ralph Biamonte, Cryptic Message was a 3 1/4-length winner when debuting in a restricted maiden race at 4 1/2 furlongs here June 16.
Churchill Downs has decreased purses for the traditional fall-meet anchors, the Grade 1 Clark Handicap and Grade 2 Falls City Handicap, in the most notable of several changes to the 2012 fall stakes schedule at the Louisville, Ky., track.
The Clark, to be run Nov. 23, is now a $400,000-added race, down from a gross total of $572,500 last year, while the Nov. 22 Falls City is now a $150,000-added event, down from $193,725. As usual, those races will anchor closing weekend of a 21-day meet that runs Oct. 28 through Nov. 25.
