After assessing the 18 horses nominated for Monday’s $100,000 Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap at Golden Gate Fields, the track’s racing secretary, David Jerkens, assigned defending champion Uh Oh Bango the high weight of 122 pounds, two more than Awesome Gem and Kettle Corn.
“He’s won on our track, and he’s been going in good form,” said Jerkens, explaining the 122-pound assignment.
John Velazquez has picked up the mount on Union Rags, trainer Michael Matz said Tuesday.
The switch was not a surprise. The connections of Union Rags were not happy with how things unfolded for Union Rags in his last two starts, both with Julien Leparoux. And Velazquez was considered one of the top contenders to replace him.
Leparoux had ridden Union Rags in the Kentucky Derby, in which Union Rags finished seventh after a troubled trip. Leparoux also rode Union Rags in the Florida Derby, in which he finished third.
Ohio racing officials have launched an investigation into a flurry of last-second bets on the fifth race at Thistledown on Monday, the officials confirmed on Tuesday morning.
The bets, which originated through account-wagering hubs, drove the odds on a 1-5 horse at post time in a seven-horse maiden field to 5-1 just after the horses left the gate. Eye Look the Part, the horse that had been 1-5, won the race by 16 1/2 lengths and paid $12.80 as the longest shot in the six-furlong race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The favored Gypsy Ring outdueled second choice Paso Doble to win the $125,000 New Providence Stakes on holiday Monday at Woodbine.
Gypsy Ring and Paso Doble stalked a trio of front-runners in the six-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired stock.
Gypsy Ring found room on the outside at the quarter pole, while Paso Doble had clear sailing along the rail. They proceeded to battle through the stretch, with Gypsy Ring prevailing by three-quarters of a length, in 1:10.72. Executive Five wound up third in the five-horse field.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Regardless on which surface it is run, Wednesday’s second-level optional $50,000 claiming feature at Belmont Park looks to be a competitive event.
Eight horses were entered to run if the race remains on the turf at seven furlongs as scheduled. There are six horses entered only in case the race is moved to the main track. Heavy showers pummeled the area on Monday and more unsettled weather was forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Heavy showers turned Belmont’s training track into a sealed, sloppy mess by 9:30 a.m. Monday. But that didn’t prevent Awesome Maria from turning in a sensational five-furlong workout in 59.23 seconds in preparation for next Monday’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Handicap.
Under regular rider John Velazquez, Awesome Maria worked in splits of 12.38 seconds, 23.80, 34.85, and still got her last quarter in 24.38. She proceeded to gallop out six furlongs in 1:12.68.
Broadway’s Alibi, a game runner-up to Believe You Can in the Kentucky Oaks on May 4, will not run in next Monday’s Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday morning.
On Monday, Broadway’s Alibi worked four furlongs in 49.50 seconds over a fast Belmont training track, a move that Pletcher termed just “okay.”
“She’s normally a really good work horse. I think she just needs a little more time after the Oaks,” Pletcher said. “She ran her heart out in there, put a lot into it at a mile and an eighth. It looked like maybe 24 days is a little bit quick.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Of all the claims David Jacobson has made in the last six months – and there have been about five dozen – none has proven to be a better one than Saginaw.
Taken for $30,000 from Richard Dutrow Jr. out of a winning performance at Aqueduct on March 8, Saginaw has reeled off four more victories, including a sensational 7 1/2-length score in last Saturday’s inaugural running of the $100,000 Affirmed Success for New York-breds at Belmont Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Roxy Gap is back in the groove.
On Sunday, with her regular rider Patrick Husbands doing the honors, Roxy Gap rallied from just off the pace for a 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2, 6 1/2-furlong Hendrie Stakes.
Four weeks earlier, the 4-year-year filly had employed a similar style en route to scoring by a neck in the Grade 3, six-furlong Whimsical.
“She did what she had to do,” said Mark Casse, who had watched Roxy Gap break from the rail and prevail in a shortened field of six for the Hendrie.
