DEL MAR, Calif. – For a Grade 2 stakes winner, Norvsky may not get the attention he deserved around Don Warren’s stable.
“In most years, he’d be our big horse,” Warren said. “He’d be in the first stall.”
The first stall in Warren’s stable is reserved for Acclamation, the champion older male of 2011. Acclamation was expected to be a heavy favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar.
Travis Tygart, the top official at the U.S. drug-testing agency overseeing the country’s Olympics and Paralympic teams, will provide the keynote address at the Jockey Club Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing on Aug. 12 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the Jockey Club announced on Friday.
Tygart, the chief executive officer of the United States Anti-Doping Agency since 2007, will “share insights on the mission, policies and practices” employed by the agency “to combat the use of performance-enhancing drugs,” the Jockey Club said in a release.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though the logistics have not yet been finalized, there will increased security protocols put in place for select races at Saratoga, the chairman of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board said Friday.
“I’ve met with trainers throughout the last month and owners, plus security, and NYRA, and we’ll be coming out with something soon,” Chairman John Sabini said Friday before the opening race at Saratoga. “We want to make it user-friendly, yet meaningful; that’s the goal.”
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Jockey Richard Hamel was all smiles after working Madeira Park a half-mile in 46.60 seconds Thursday. It wasn’t just the way the 3-year-old filly worked that had Hamel in such good spirits. A couple of months ago Hamel thought his career might be over. Plagued by arthritic knees, Hamel said he was in too much pain to continue riding. Following successful surgery, Hamel was back working horses a couple of weeks ago and is accepting mounts for next Friday. The last time he rode was on May 21.
Sensational Minnesota-bred Heliskier is the 1-5 favorite in the $35,000 Minnesota Thoroughbred Association Laddie Stakes at Canterbury on Sunday.
The MTA Laddie and Lassie stakes are for 3 year olds who are progeny of stallions sold at the MTA stallion auction in 2007. Both divisions will be contested at 6 1/2 furlongs over the main track.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Wise Dan is currently rated among the elite members of the nation’s handicap division. But on Friday morning, Wise Dan made his way over to the Oklahoma turf course, where he worked five furlongs in 1:02.76, much to the delight of his trainer, Charles Lopresti.
“That was perfect,” Lopresti said while watching Wise Dan give his rider all he could handle pulling him up after the work.
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Vanasee has won stakes races at 2, 3 and 4, and on Sunday she will attempt to continue the trend at 5. Vanasee will be making her second start of the year in the $40,000 Columbine, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares at Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colo.
Vanasee is one of six stakes winners in the eight-horse field that also includes Lady Contender, winner of the recent $40,000 George Wafer Memorial at Arapahoe, and Unloch the Fury, the runner-up in last year’s Columbine who could go favored off an allowance score at SunRay Park in New Mexico.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Eddie Plesa may not get the acclaim for his success with 2-year-olds as say Todd Pletcher or Wesley Ward, but the 63-year-old trainer has certainly done well this year, winning with 30 percent of his juvenile starters.
Sunday, Plesa mixes it up with Pletcher and Ward when he sends out Brave Dave in the Grade 2, $200,000 Sanford Stakes for 2-year-old males at Saratoga. Brave Dave will be Plesa’s first starter at Saratoga since Aug. 22, 2010. He is seeking his first win here since Aug. 12, 2005.
Sassy City was named the James Moseley Horse of the Year for 2011 in New England on Thursday night at the region’s turf writers’ awards dinner.
Owned by Kathleen Botty and trained by her husband, John Botty, the mare won twice last year and placed in the Grade 3 Endine Stakes at Delaware Park. She is 5 for 9 at Suffolk Downs with three second-place finishes. A win last summer at Monmouth Park locked up the award as well as the trophy for champion older female. It is the second straight New England Horse of the Year for the Bottys after Lovethatdirtywater won for his 2010 campaign.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The presence of the Grade 1 winner Eden’s Moon in Sunday’s $150,000 San Clemente Handicap on turf at Del Mar does not reflect a long-term surface switch for the inconsistent filly.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert considers the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap over a mile to be an experiment, one that could provide further options in the future.
“I want to see if she likes it,” Baffert said of turf.
Eden’s Moon worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds on turf last Monday.
