Fri, 03/16/2012 - 17:09

Santa Anita: Plum Pretty spikes a temperature

The comeback for 2011 Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty hit a minor snag early this week when she spiked a temperature that precluded an immediate return. Bob Baffert trains the filly, whose sharp work pattern included a seven-furlong work March 8.

“She was working right along and then she got sick on me,” Baffert said. “She spiked a temperature Monday and had it for one day. She is fine now.”

Plum Pretty, with four wins and earnings of $1,356,700 from 10 starts, has not raced since finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic on Nov. 4.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 17:08

Gulfstream: Boisterous returning in Sunday allowance

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Boisterous, with Alan Garcia riding, wins the Red Smith.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Sunday’s feature at Gulfstream Park is the Grade 3 Honey Fox, but the best race on the card might be the afternoon’s fourth event, a $74,900 optional claiming and allowance test at a 1 1/16 miles on the turf that marks the 2012 debut of the Grade 1 placed Boisterous. The six-horse field also includes Turbo Compressor, Kindergarten Kid and the Group 3 placed Forte Dei Marmi whose only start in North America came last September in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 17:01

Aqueduct: NYRA to adjust bottom claim level, purses following breakdowns

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – As the New York Racing Association embarks on a comprehensive investigation into the rash of breakdowns that have occurred at Aqueduct this winter, the head of the association said Friday that purses will be cut for lower-level claiming races beginning April 4.

Since the inner track opened Nov. 30, 17 fatalities have occurred over the surface, eight since Feb. 25. Thirteen of those fatalities have occurred in races where the horses were running for a claiming price of $15,000 or less, essentially the cheapest horses on the grounds.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 16:56

Louisiana Downs: Roberts holding two aces for Harrah's Futurity

Trainer Kenneth Roberts, a longtime leading Quarter Horse trainer in Louisiana, has two capable fillies in Sunday’s $221,640 Harrah’s Futurity at Louisiana Downs. The 300-yard race for 2-year-olds will go with a field of 10.

Roberts will be represented by Jetblack Gold Moment, who rallied to win her trial March 3, and Classic Patriot, who in her trial was second to fastest qualifier Wave Cover. The Roberts horses both race for Mercy Hinklins Horse Farm and will be coupled.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 16:52

Sunland: Marr, Dominguez have numbers stacked in their favor

Trainers Joel Marr and Henry Dominguez are attacking Sunday’s $110,000 New Mexico State University Handicap at Sunland Park. Between them, the men will have five starters in the field of 10. The mile-and-70-yard race is for 4-year-olds and up bred in New Mexico.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 16:36

Oaklawn Park: Amie’s Dini’s gutsy run sends her to Fantasy

Oaklawn Park/Coady Photography
Amie’s Dini, winner of the $75,000 Martha Washington, is being pointed to the Fantasy Stakes.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Amie’s Dini, a stakes winner this meet at Oaklawn Park who ran a bold second to On Fire Baby in the recent Honeybee, is to make her next start in the Grade 2, $300,000 Fantasy, trainer Ron Moquett said Friday. The Fantasy, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, will be run at Oaklawn on April 11.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 16:17

Gulfstream Park: Evenly matched Honey Fox field poses handicapping challenge

Tom Keyser
Romacaca has won 6 of 9 starts at the Honey Fox distance of one mile on turf.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Handicappers will have their work cut out trying to come up with the winner of Sunday’s $150,000 Honey Fox at Gulfstream. Even trying to pick the post-time favorite could be a chore, that’s how evenly matched the field of 11 fillies and mares is on paper for the one-mile Honey Fox.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 16:00

Santa Anita: Shorter distance, mud aid Gladding in Santana Mile

Benoit & Associates
Gladding, with Rafael Bejarano up, wins the 2011 San Antonio.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gladding should relish the conditions Sunday at Santa Anita, where the class-drop front-runner can be loose on the lead in the Santana Mile.

At one mile on the main track, the $70,000 Santana is an easier spot for Gladding than the race he tried 15 days earlier. That was the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles, a tough race made impossible by an extreme pace.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 15:53

Gulfstream: Gemologist shines in return win

Bob Coglianese
Gemologist coasts to a seven-length victory under Javier Castellano in his 2012 debut, an allowance race at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gemologist hadn’t raced in nearly four months, but it was hard to tell he had been away at all from the looks of his performance in his 3-year-old debut here Wednesday.

Gemologist kept his record unblemished with a convincing and very easy seven-length triumph over the previously undefeated Grade 1 winner Currency Swap going a mile under allowance conditions under jockey Javier Castellano in Wednesday’s third race. The one-sided victory thrust Gemologist, a son of Tiznow owned by WinStar Farm, right into the midst of the Kentucky Derby picture.

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 15:10

Turfway: Big field likely for Vinery Racing Spiral

Benoit & Associates
Handsome Mike (right), Rafael Bejarano up, runs second to Stoney Fleece in the Generous.

Racing officials at Turfway Park are expecting a sizable field for their annual showcase event, the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes, with a handful of prominent trainers likely to run a pair of 3-year-olds apiece.

Todd Pletcher, Graham Motion, Mike Maker, and Mark Casse all have two horses under consideration for the Grade 3, $500,000 Spiral, which will be run next Saturday, March 24, at the Florence, Ky., track.