ARCADIA, Calif. –The $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday at Santa Anita will largely dictate how Willa B Awesome is campaigned this spring.
The winner of the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes in an 11-1 upset on Jan. 28, Willa B Awesome faces her toughest test in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes, which is run over a mile.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Three Florida shippers and one from Southern California helped fill Friday’s $75,000 Bold Brat Stakes for fillies and mares going six furlongs at Aqueduct.
Maple Forest, trained by Todd Pletcher, and Final Mesa, from Wesley Ward’s barn, arrived from south Florida on Wednesday and look to be not only the speed of the race but the two top contenders in the seven-horse field.
He’s got a lovely wife and two young sons, and a professional career that has brought him the last two Eclipse Awards as champion jockey, a couple of Breeders’ Cup victories, and, this past week, the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. What Ramon Dominguez doesn’t have, yet, is a win in a Triple Crown race. Not the Kentucky Derby, nor the Preakness, nor the Belmont.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Ultimate Eagle has inherited the role of favorite for Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap following the defection of Game On Dude on Wednesday.
Game On Dude is bound for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 31, trainer Bob Baffert said. His absence leaves Santa Anita’s richest race for older horses without its defending champion and the runner-up in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.
Baffert said that he and the owners of Game On Dude debated starting in the Big Cap or Dubai World Cup before settling on the World Cup.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hansen, last year’s 2-year-old champion, drew post 12 in a field of 13 3-year-olds entered to run in Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.
The 13 entries are believed to be the largest for a single running of the Gotham, which was first run in 1953. The race was split three times, the last being in 1983. In 1994, there was a 12-horse field and Irgun won the race from post 11.
Mike Maker, the trainer of Hansen, admitted that post 12 was a concern but added “what can you do?”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gulfstream Park will raise purses 15 percent for the remainder of the meet effective with Saturday’s program. The higher purse schedule is due to increases in both ontrack and offtrack handle this meet.
All-sources handle is up 12 percent compared to last year, according to figures released by Gulfstream Park management.
“We have seen increases in our business due to the support of our horsemen, and the industry has benefited from out December opening,” said Gulfstream president and general manager Tim Ritvo.
The Internet address for Mountaineer Racetrack has changed to “MoreatMountaineer.com.” That description doesn’t describe the 2012 stakes schedule, however.
The track in West Virginia’s northern panhandle, which opens for its 62nd season Friday night, has trimmed $255,000 devoted to stakes and will offer just 13 added-money events in 2012, six fewer than last year.
Largely due to the casino at Aqueduct, horsemen who win races this summer at Belmont Park and Saratoga will feel like they hit the jackpot.
Dramatic purse increases are in the offing for both the Belmont spring/summer meet and Saratoga, according to the purse structure and stakes schedule released Wednesday by the New York Racing Association.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Harbor Breeze was a major disappointment here last winter for trainer Tim Hills. One year later, the son of Rockport Harbor is one of the more promising horses in the barn and likely the one to catch in Friday’s $53,500 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint is for 3-year-olds and up.
