INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A stamina test over 1 1/4 miles on turf in a first-level optional $40,000 claimer may suit the lightly raced 5-year-old Ain at Betfair Hollywood Park on Thursday.
As a maiden at 3, Ain was second in the Emerald Derby over 1 1/8 miles at Emerald Downs in Washington. Since joining trainer Carla Gaines’s stable in Southern California in late 2010, Ain has made just four starts, including a maiden race win in his California debut in January 2011.
BALTIMORE – It’s far too early in 2012 to start talking about Horse of the Year, but there it was in a media release about the revived Pimlico Special: 15 of the previous 41 winners eventually were voted Horse of the Year.
MIAMI – Trainer Stanley Gold was justifiably proud of the performances of Fort Loudon and Redbud Road, who captured the In Summation and French Village stakes here at Calder last weekend. Gold was pleased not only with the fact they both won but the manner in which his two top 3-year-olds achieved their victories.
“What I liked best was the fact that almost every race was won wire to wire over the drying out track here Saturday and they both sat, finished strong, and won against the bias,” said Gold. “I think they really proved they were the best.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With just 1 win from 6 starts, Heart of Destiny has a record that belies her talent.
Her company lines quickly reflect why. In her last four starts, Heart of Destiny has faced such top-level 3-year-old fillies as Stephanie’s Kitten, On Fire Baby, and Karlovy Vary.
Aside from a poor run vs. On Fire Baby in the Grade 2 Pocahontas last year on dirt, Heart of Destiny has held her own with good performances when competing on turf and Polytrack.
With Havre de Grace retired, the older filly and mare division will be looking for a new leader. Awesome Maria and It’s Tricky are among the leading candidates to assume the throne. On Monday, both tuned up for their impending showdown in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps here on May 28 by turning in sharp five-furlong workouts over the Belmont training track.
If Mark Valeski runs in the Belmont, one horse he won’t have to worry about facing is El Padrino, who beat Mark Valeski by a nose in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 25.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday that El Padrino, 13th in the Kentucky Derby, was sent over the weekend to Win Star Farm, where he will get a little vacation and be pointed for a fall campaign.
“He’s been in training since March of last year – he was one of the first 2-year-olds to come in,” Pletcher said. “He’s had a long steady campaign; just thought we’d freshen him up a bit.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Mark Valeski, winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont, arrived back at Churchill Downs early Monday morning and will train there while his connections decide whether or not to return for the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 9.
Trainer Larry Jones said while he was happy with his colt’s 1 1/4-length victory over Right to Vote in the Peter Pan – which earned him a 96 Beyer Speed Figure – he would monitor this Saturday’s Preakness Stakes as well as other developments before sitting down with owner Brereton Jones and deciding what’s next.
With entry day fast approaching Wednesday for the 137th Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico, the prospective field came into sharper focus Monday, with Hansen, Hierro, and the longshot Brimstone Island bowing out, leaving a likely field of 11 or 12 for the second leg of the Triple Crown.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Wednesday’s $85,000 Cannon Shell could pass for a graded stakes. The eight older sprinters entered for turf have all run in such races; so have three of the five entered for dirt only.
Layoffs abound, if the six-furlong race stays on the inner turf as scheduled. Shintoh, Group 3 placed in Ireland, would be making his U.S. debut off a 19-month layoff for trainer Allen Jerkens.
Fiddlers Patriot and Yield Bogey haven’t run in seven months since chasing Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Regally Ready in the Nearctic, but both have run well fresh.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Strait of Dover stamped himself a serious Queen’s Plate candidate here last Saturday with a 6 1/2-length victory in the $156,300 Marine Stakes.
Racing around two turns for the first time and making his stakes debut in the 1 1/16-mile Marine, Strait of Dover pressed the pace of the front-running Incredicat and drew off through the stretch under a hand ride by Justin Stein.
