INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Sunday afternoon, Doug O’Neill sat alone in a deserted section of the turf club at Betfair Hollywood Park, watching races on a monitor and occasionally reaching for his overworked mobile phone.
It was the rare occasion when O’Neill had solitary time in the last month. With I’ll Have Another’s wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, O’Neill was at the center of attention in racing and the sports world.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Beso Bonita didn’t beat much when she won her maiden race, but she looked good doing it, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see her make an impact when she jumps up to Ontario-sired allowance company in Thursday’s fourth race at Woodbine.
Beso Bonita was never in contention after getting away slowly and racing wide over an inside-biased track May 5, when she debuted in a $25,000 sprint for Ontario-sired stock.
Stephanie’s Kitten will not make her long-awaited trip to England for the June 22 Coronation Stakes at the Royal Ascot meet, trainer Wayne Catalano said Tuesday.
“She has an elevated white-cell count, and we just don’t want to take any chances with her,” said Catalano. “She’s fine. It’s just that she’s only like 90 percent, and if you’re going to run against some of the best fillies in the world over there, you need to be 110 percent.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Alternation had a final tune-up for the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap when breezing five furlongs Tuesday at Churchill Downs. The official time of 1:05.40 was irrelevant, according to trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel.
“From the quarter pole, past the wire, and on around to the seven-eighths, it was more of a 35-ish work for three-eighths,” Von Hemel said. “He pretty much started out in a two-minute lick. We accomplished what we wanted him to, and that was to work well down the lane and gallop out real strong.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine is adding a new wrinkle to Queen’s Plate week this year as entries for the cards of both Saturday, June 23, and Sunday, June 24, will be drawn on Wednesday.
The exception will be the June 24 Queen’s Plate itself, as the entry box for the 1/4-mile showpiece for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds will remain open until 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Perhaps the tell-tale sign that Thursday is a “go” in the comeback of a 3-year-old filly named Judy the Beauty is that Joel Rosario is coming from California to ride her.
Judy the Beauty will make her first start since finishing second as the favorite in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes last September at Saratoga when meeting older mares and having Rosario aboard in one of the co-featured races Thursday at Churchill Downs, a $70,100 classified allowance with a $100,000 claiming option. The race is scheduled for five furlongs on the turf.
After successfully stretching out to 1 1/8 miles in Sunday’s Monmouth Stakes, Data Link will likely be shortened to a mile this summer, with the $500,000 Fourstardave at Saratoga on Aug. 11 as a major target.
Trainer Shug McGaughey said that Data Link could prep in the Grade 3, $150,000 Poker, also at a mile, on July 4 at Belmont.
Data Link proved himself a solid miler by defeating Turallure – last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile runner-up – in the Maker’s Mark 46 Mile at Keeneland in April.
Tapitsfly, Winter Memories, and Hungry Island were the top three finishers in Saturday’s Grade 1 Just a Game. All three are likely to meet again in the Grade 1, $600,000 Diana at Saratoga on July 28.
Tapitsfly used her speed to go gate to wire in the Just a Game, running her final quarter in 22.86 seconds after going her opening half-mile in 46.44 uncontested.
Jimmy Toner, trainer of beaten favorite Winter Memories, offered no excuses for his filly’s 2 1/4-length defeat in the one-mile turf race.
ELMONT, N.Y. – All in all, it wasn’t a bad two hours late Saturday afternoon for trainer Chad Brown.
In that span, Brown sandwiched a Grade 1 victory in the Manhattan Handicap by Desert Blanc in between fourth-place finishes by Hardened Wildcat in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens and Street Life in the $1 million Belmont Stakes.
While this year’s Manhattan won’t go down as the toughest field ever assembled for the 1 1/4-mile turf race, Desert Blanc put in a solid performance, splitting horses in midstretch and outfinishing Papaw Bodie to win by a nose.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – If you happen to be passing Candy Meadows Farm near Lexington, Ky., and see a powerful-looking bay horse deeply brooding in a paddock, that’s probably Caleb’s Posse. American’s toughest-luck horse of 2012 is getting some rest and relaxation at Candy Meadows Farm before gearing up for a second half of a racing season that probably will include starts at Saratoga and Santa Anita. His connections most certainly hope it goes somewhat differently than the first half.
