HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Brethren, a major player on the Kentucky Derby trail last winter until his disappointing 11th-place finish in the Arkansas Derby, is about ready to launch his comeback, trainer Todd Pletcher said this weekend. Brethren, a homebred son of Distorted Humor owned by WinStar Farm, has worked six times at Palm Meadows, including a near-bullet five-eighths in 59.80 seconds on Sunday.
Absinthe Minded, a two-time stakes winner at the meet who finished fourth as the favorite in the Grade 3, $150,000 Azeri last Saturday, will advance to next month’s Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.
Absinthe Minded was 4-5 in the Azeri off a powerful win in the $100,000 Bayakoa here Feb. 18. But after setting a pressured pace from the inside Saturday, she ended up 5 3/4 lengths behind winner Tiz Miz Sue.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Allen Milligan, who has established himself as one of the leading trainers in this region, will be branching out when the Oaklawn Park meet closes next month. Milligan said he will have a division of horses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., for the first time in his career, with the group to include the Arkansas Derby-bound Jake Mo.
Shraded Edge, who is being pointed to next month’s Grade 2, $350,000 Oaklawn Park Handicap, and I Am Awesome, who seeks his fourth win at the meet Thursday, also will be part of Milligan’s 12-horse string at Churchill.
Say this for trainer Larry Jones. He knows how to stay busy.
Saturday, Jones saddled 2011 Horse of the Year to an easy victory in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes, her 2012 debut. Monday, Jones hooked his horse trailer up to his pickup and drove from New Orleans to Hot Springs, Ark., where Joyful Victory had finished third on Saturday in the Azeri Stakes. Jones pulled into the barn area, loaded up Joyful Victory, and not long after was headed south again, arriving at Fair Grounds in the evening.
The Grade 2, $150,000 San Luis Rey Stakes for older turf horses, postponed from last Sunday owing to a dire weather forecast, is scheduled to be brought back this Sunday, with Slim Shadey, the upset winner of the San Marcos Stakes on Feb. 11, heading up a likely field of six. David Flores has the mount.
Others expected for the San Luis Rey include Bourbon Bay, Dynamic Host, Hog’s Hollow, Porfido, and Utopian.
Porfido worked five furlongs in 1:02.80 on Tuesday morning at Hollywood Park for Harty.
The resounding victory by Include Me Out in the Santa Margarita Invitational on Saturday has her trainer, Ron Ellis, eyeing the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic this fall. Like the Santa Margarita, the Ladies’ Classic is at 1 1/8 miles, and, most significantly, it will be at Santa Anita this year on Nov. 2.
“I wouldn’t mind if the Breeders’ Cup was six weeks away,” Ellis said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – After an aborted comeback attempt March 9, jockey Garrett Gomez is scheduled to return to action Thursday at Santa Anita. He has two mounts, on Kelly Leak in the fifth race and Rauschenberg in the seventh, and if he rides both horses, it will be the most action he’s had since breaking the heel in his left foot Jan. 8.
Gomez tried to ride March 9, but had so much pain in the foot that he bowed out after one ride. The extra two weeks were beneficial, according to his agent, Tony Matos, who has an ambitious spring schedule for his rider.
Mark Casse has become arguably the preeminent trainer at Woodbine in Canada, where the main racing surface has been Polytrack since August 2006. With more than 400 wins at Woodbine since 2007, Casse clearly knows how to prepare a horse to win over a synthetic track, and that’s just what he has been busy doing lately with a colt named Stealcase.
