Trainer Rob Atras enjoyed an incredible week at Aqueduct, winning with eight of the 10 starters he sent out from Friday through Sunday. Add in a victory with his lone starter on March 5 and Atras has gone 9 for his last 11 at the Big A.
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DRF Past Performances
The veteran sprinter C Z Rocket arrived in Dubai on Monday for a scheduled start in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Sprint at Meydan Racecourse on March 25, the 9-year-old gelding’s first trip abroad.
A winner of 12 of 36 starts, C Z Rocket was second in an allowance race at six furlongs at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 17 in his lone start this year and first since a second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland in November. C Z Rocket was second in 2020 BC Sprint at Keeneland and seventh in the 2021 BC Sprint at Del Mar.
California trainer George Papaprodromou will have a strong team of sprinters this spring, including a lightly raced 5-year-old who is unbeaten in two starts this year.
On Saturday at Santa Anita, Spirit of Makena won his stakes debut in the Grade 3 San Carlos Stakes at seven furlongs in his fourth career start. The style of the win suggests that Spirit of Makena will have a presence in the circuit’s leading sprints in 2023.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The imposing presence of reigning juvenile champion Forte in the lineup for the $1 million Florida Derby on April 1 could result in several other top 3-year-old prospects being re-routed elsewhere for their final Kentucky Derby prep. Among them is Holy Bull winner and Fountain of Youth runner-up Rocket Can, who will most likely make his next start the same day at Oaklawn Park in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.
Rocket Can has been galloping but probably won’t breeze until the end of next week, trainer Bill Mott said.
The Fair Grounds trainer standings as of March 8: Brad Cox 32 wins, Bret Calhoun 31 wins, Ron Faucheux 25 wins.
Less than a week later, we have a new leader! Ron Faucheux, leading Fair Grounds trainer the last two meets, won with all three of his starters on the March 8 card. On March 9, Faucheux won with two of three. And when Royal Unlimited won the Sunday nightcap, it ran Faucheux’s record through the five-day race week to a mind-blowing 14-8-1-3. That gave him 33 winners at the meet and the lead in the race for leading trainer.
The jockey Reylu Gutierrez on Sunday afternoon was idling at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, trying to make his way back to New Orleans after riding Saturday at Oaklawn Park. All winter at Fair Grounds, Gutierrez has found a knack for getting home fast.
Even after missing Sunday mounts due to the flight delay, Gutierrez comes into the penultimate race week of the 2022-23 Fair Grounds meet having won 61 times. That gave him a 14-victory cushion over James Graham, close to an insurmountable lead with 10 cards left beginning with Wednesday’s.
Kathleen O’Connell on Sunday passed Kim Hammond as the all-time winningest female trainer in North America when My Eagle Soars gave her career win No. 2,386 in the fifth race. Well-wishers lined up to congratulate O’Connell afterward.
“It’s been a wonderful ride,” said O’Connell, who began training in 1981 in her native Michigan. “It’s not only about the destination, but it’s the journey getting there.”
My Eagle Soars, a 3-year-old Florida-bred gelding, was ridden by Antonio Gallardo, who was particularly honored. “She’s been like my mom,” said the Spanish-born jockey.
The April 8 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland is next for Tapit Trice, whose last-to-first triumph here Saturday in the annual meet showcase, the Tampa Bay Derby, made him the 8-1 second choice in Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager that closed Sunday.
The $400,000 spent on A Mo Reay at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall mixed sale last November has proved to be a bargain in recent months.
A Mo Reay is unbeaten in three starts since the acquisition, including a win in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares at Santa Anita on Saturday. A Mo Reay’s win in the $501,500 Beholder, the 4-year-old filly’s first victory in a race at the highest level, has trainer Brad Cox planning a start in the Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 5.
Confidence Game, one-length winner of the Rebel Stakes on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn Park, is unlikely to run back March 25 in the Louisiana Derby. Trainer Keith Desmormeaux is keeping options open for Confidence Game, who could run on April 1 in the Arkansas Derby, on April 8 in the Blue Grass, or train right into the Kentucky Derby.