Tue, 04/24/2012 - 12:55

Golden Gate notes: Jockey Orozco gets first Thoroughbred win

Jockey Irving Orozco notched his first Thoroughbred victory in Saturday’s second race at Golden Gate Fields.

Orozco, who rode one race at Santa Anita, was 0 for 17 at Golden Gate Fields with 2 seconds and 3 thirds before he rallied Clearlyaluckyguy from sixth to win the 5 1/2-furlong maiden claimer by 3 1/4 lengths. Clearlyaluckyguy returned $5.80.

Tue, 04/24/2012 - 12:02

Keeneland: Upperline the one to catch in Bewitch Stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
Upperline is the horse to beat in Thursday's Grade 3, $150,000 Bewitch Stakes.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Until finishing second in the Dowager Stakes on the Keeneland turf last fall, Upperline had never raced as far as 1 1/2 miles. But given that encouraging effort, along with her advancing age and pedigree, trainer Mike Stidham laid her up this winter with the thought of aiming for more turf marathons this year.

With one tightener under her belt, Upperline returns to Keeneland as the horse to catch and beat in the Thursday feature, the Grade 3, $150,000 Bewitch Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on the turf.

Mon, 04/23/2012 - 16:51

Kentucky Derby workouts: Daddy Nose Best peaking at right time

Barbara D. Livingston
Daddy Nose Best, with jockey Garrett Gomez up, works six furlongs in 1:13.70 in company with stablemate Z Dager on Monday at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There was a time, not too long ago, when no trainer would dare start a horse in the Kentucky Derby without giving his 3-year-old plenty of opportunity to get acclimated to and at least one work over the Churchill Downs racetrack. But the times they are a changing, at least since Funny Cide shipped to Louisville from New York less than 72 hours prior to his victory in the 2003 Derby.

Mon, 04/23/2012 - 16:13

Hawthorne: She's All In hits new heights in Sixty Sails

Four-Footed Fotos
She’s All In scores the biggest win of her career in Saturday’s Grade 3 Sixty Sails Handicap at Hawthorne.

STICKNEY, Ill. – It has been a long trip for She’s All In, a one-time $15,000 maiden-claimer who romped to victory Saturday at Hawthorne in the Grade 3 Sixty Sails Handicap, winning by almost nine lengths while notching the first graded stakes victory of a 23-race career.

Mon, 04/23/2012 - 16:02

2012 Kentucky Derby: Dominguez to ride Hansen

Ramon Dominguez will ride Hansen in the Kentucky Derby, his agent Steve Rushing confirmed Monday afternoon.

Dominguez was the regular of both Hansen, last year’s 2-year-old champion and this year’s Gotham winner, and Alpha, this year’s Count Fleet and Withers winner and Wood Memorial runner-up.

Mon, 04/23/2012 - 14:51

Toner horses at Fair Hill after South Carolina van accident

Four of the five horses who survived a harrowing equine van accident last week in South Carolina are now bedded down at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, with the other one expected to join them later this week.

The horses, all trained by Jimmy Toner, are owned by two partnerships managed by Justin Nicholson. Bold Hawk, an 8-year-old gelding who won the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby in 2007, and Crying Lightening, a listed stakes winner in Europe who is 0 for 2 in the United States, are both owned by Ninety North Racing Stable, a recently formed public syndicate.

Mon, 04/23/2012 - 14:50

Aqueduct: Rice wins trainer's title in final race

Trainer Linda Rice won five of the last 18 races run at the Aqueduct meet – including the final one with Thisskysabeauty – to win the spring meet trainer’s title, 13-12, over Rudy Rodriguez.

This was Rice’s fourth trainer’s title on the New York Racing Association circuit, second outright. She won the 2010 Saratoga meet, tied David Jacobson for the 2011 Aqueduct spring title, and tied Todd Pletcher for the 2011 Belmont spring/summer title.

Mon, 04/23/2012 - 14:36

Schwartz eyes Preakness for The Lumber Guy

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
The Lumber Guy scores a front-running, 2 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Jerome.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Owner Barry Schwartz is leaving the door open for Jerome winner The Lumber Guy to make his next start in the $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 19.

“It’s definitely a possibility,” Schwartz said Monday by phone from Southern California.

The other possibility is the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan, a one-turn 1 1/8-mile race at Belmont Park on May 12.

Mon, 04/23/2012 - 13:40

2012 Kentucky Derby field coming into focus

Barbara D. Livingston
Isn’t He Clever works a half-mile in 51.60 seconds on Monday at Churchill Downs.

With the likely field for the 138th Kentucky Derby on May 5 at Churchill Downs starting to come into sharper focus, five horses with Derby aspirations worked Monday morning at Churchill Downs, and a surprise Derby starter worked at Calder in advance of his van trip to Kentucky later this week.

Daddy Nose Best, Mark Valeski, and Sabercat – who are certain starters in the Derby – and Isn’t He Clever and Optimizer, who are currently on the bubble in terms of graded earnings, all worked Monday at Churchill Downs, while in Florida, Trinniberg also worked.

Mon, 04/23/2012 - 13:38

Keeneland: Devoted Wildcat enters Wednesday allowance on a roll

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Bob Hess Jr. is one of numerous nationally known trainers who came to Kentucky for the early spring but will pack up and leave once the Kentucky Derby has been run for the 138th time on May 5. Hess, who also maintains a Southern California string, said the allure of bigger purses at the Belmont Park meet convinced him to forsake Churchill for the post-Derby period (through July 1) and that he will have 16 stalls instead in New York, where slot revenues are starting to kick in.