HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Florida Derby is not the only important Kentucky Derby prep left on the local racing schedule this winter. The $150,000 Palm Beach Stakes may be carded on the grass, but it could well have Derby implications with both Dullahan and Howe Great among the six 3-year-olds set to go 1 1/8 miles Sunday at Gulfstream Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hansen was scheduled to ship early Saturday from Turfway Park to Louisville in time to train over the Trackside training center, where the champion colt will be based until making his next start, likely in the April 7 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
Mike Maker, the trainer of Hansen, said Friday that he is consolidating many of his horses back to Trackside, located just a few miles away from Churchill Downs. Both Trackside and Churchill reopened Friday after the customary winter maintenance break of about 10 weeks.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., will increase overnight purses by an average of $25,000 a card beginning with Friday's program, the track announced late Thursday. The increase is the third of the meet at Oaklawn, and it is accountable to double-digit gains in both handle and revenue from the track's gaming machines during the month of February.
Ms Jingles, an impressive debut winner last month at Louisiana Downs, is the one to beat in the track’s Grade 2, $256,604 Mardi Gras Futurity on Saturday. The 300-yard race is one of the richest of the meet, and it will go with a field of 10.
Ms Jingles made her debut in trials for the Mardi Gras on Feb. 21. She broke on top and led throughout for a half-length win, and her time of 15.49 seconds for the 300 yards was the fastest qualifying time for the finale. Cajun On Star, who was second to Ms. Jingles, was the second fastest qualifier, going in 15.59.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Ancient Rome will be the shorter price of the Tony Dutrow-trained uncoupled entry in Saturday’s $100,000 Fred “Cappy” Capossela Stakes at Aqueduct, but to hear him talk, Dutrow sounds more excited about running Christopher’s Joy in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds.
Ancient Rome, who won the Spectacular Bid Stakes at Gulfstream last December, returns to sprinting after a failed attempt at stretching out around two turns in the Gulfstream Park Derby.
Nothing against grass racing, the historical backbone of the sport, but in this country, dirt is king, especially if you’ve got a 3-year-old who can run. Even horses whose connections at bottom believe they’ve got a grass runner on their hands will be given every chance to take to the main track and make a run at the Kentucky Derby or other prizes in the spring. But when reality hits home, turf racing beckons.
Thenew Normal, who has never been beaten at 4 1/2 furlongs, will put his streak at the distance on the line Saturday in the $100,000 Mt. Cristo Rey Handicap at Sunland Park. The race for 3-year-olds and up is restricted to horses bred in New Mexico.
Thenew Normal has made three starts at 4 1/2 furlongs, winning the $50,000 Road Runner Handicap at the distance at Ruidoso Downs last July, as well as two allowances at the trip at SunRay Park last April and May.
King Coral will be shaking a Breeders’ Cup winner on Saturday night when he drops in from graded stakes competition for the $50,000 Spring Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston.
The one-mile race for 3-year-olds is the final stakes of the meet, which runs through Monday.
While the traditional Saratoga racing season will end on Sept. 3, one additional day of steeplechase racing will be held at the fabled facility on Sept. 15.
The New York Racing Association in conjunction with the National Steeplechase Association announced Thursday that Saratoga will hold the inaugural Steeplechase Festival, a day of racing and other activities to benefit both local and equine charities.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It’s not the easiest thing to skip a $75,000 stakes race in which your horse would be the odds-on favorite.
But that’s what the connections of Agave Kiss did last month when they eschewed the Dearly Precious Stakes at Aqueduct, which ran with a four-horse field and was won by Singlet.
Rudy Rodriguez, the trainer of Agave Kiss, said he had no regrets skipping the Dearly Precious. He believes he has a fresher filly for Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Cicada Stakes at Aqueduct where Agave Kiss figures to be an odds-on favorite in a five-horse field.
