LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The newly revised parameters that will guide eligibility into the Kentucky Derby were met with mixed reaction and some doses of skepticism Thursday by trainers who have been perennial major players on the Derby scene in recent years.
Rahystrada had the best trip, but Smart Bid may have run the best race when those two finished first and second, respectively, in last year’s Colonial Turf Cup.
Saturday, Rahystrada and Smart Bid square off again in a very competitive eighth renewal of the $500,000 Colonial Turf Cup at Colonial Downs. A field of 12 was entered, including Air Support, who won the 2011 Virginia Derby over this course.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – With three consecutive graded stakes wins this year, Include Me Out has a rightful position on the short list of leading older females in the nation.
A 4-year-old filly, Include Me Out can climb even higher in the rankings with a win in Saturday’s $250,000 Vanity Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park.
MIAMI – Trainer Bill Kaplan obviously believes in the old adage of striking while the iron is hot.
Last weekend, Kaplan brought Another Romance back off an allowance victory on just one week’s rest to upset the Leave Me Alone Stakes. He may employ a similar tactic on Saturday, having entered Wild Bout Tiffany, winner of the U Can Do It Handicap last weekend at Calder, right back in the $55,000 Cool Air Stakes, which is carded to be run at five furlongs on the turf.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Eoin Harty nominated Endorsement to the Stephen Foster Handicap, and he nominated Right to Vote to the Matt Winn Stakes. A quick glance at the Saturday night program speaks to how he followed up.
“The Stephen Foster is about as tough a Grade 1 as I’ve seen in a while, probably tougher than the Breeders’ Cup Classic was last year,” Harty said. “And the other race came up easier than I envisioned.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The last time Royal Delta raced at Churchill Downs in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic on Nov. 4, no one could contend with her, and she romped by 2 1/2 lengths, defeating such standout mares as It’s Tricky, Pachattack, and Plum Pretty.
Matched against a lesser field Saturday evening in the Grade 2, $150,000 Fleur De Lis Handicap on the Stephen Foster undercard at Churchill, an effort even remotely close to her Breeders’ Cup performance should result in an easy, short-priced victory.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Terri Pompay did a little comparative shopping and decided the $60,000 Just Smashing Stakes was a better deal for Quick Flip.
The race for 3-year-old fillies going six furlongs tops the Saturday card at Monmouth Park.
This will be the first start for Quick Flip since a distant fifth in the Grade 2 Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park in late January. She ran three times in Florida over the winter, winning the Sandpiper at Tampa Bay Downs before running a competitive fourth in the Grade 3 Old Hat at Gulfstream.
Pachattack’s form on Polytrack looks a lot better than her two starts on turf the past two seasons. Nevertheless, the 6-year-old Pachattack figures to be one of the favorites in Saturday’s Grade 3 Edward P. Evans All Along Stakes at Colonial Downs.
Although Pachattack is cross-entered in Saturday’s Obeah on the main track at Delaware Park, Motion said Thursday she will likely run in the All Along.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The sun won’t shine bright Saturday night on the Grade 1 race named in honor of the man who wrote the famous song “My Old Kentucky Home,” but that doesn’t mean the race will lack luster. In fact, star power of the older-horse kind will be very much in evidence under the Churchill Downs lights when Wise Dan, Alternation, and several other accomplished older runners clash in the 31st running of the $400,000 Stephen Foster Handicap.
One of the few certainties about the field for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Obeah Stakes is that Tiz Miz Sue has an affinity for Delaware Park’s main track.
With track monring-line 7-5 favorite Pachattack unlikely to run because she is cross-entered in Saturday’s Grade 3 All Along on turf at Colonial Downs, Tiz Miz Sue could wind up a much shorter price than her morning-line odds of 9-5.
The 1 1/8-mile Obeah serves as the local prep for the meet’s premier event, the Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap on July 21.
