Tue, 02/28/2012 - 16:32

Santa Anita: Carryover-seekers may single Camelia Rose

ARCADIA, Calif. – Well-regarded French import Camelia Rose makes her U.S. debut Thursday at Santa Anita. The timing is perfect for the filly, and for horseplayers.

Camelia Rose is a potential “single” for pick-six bettors targeting a one-day carryover of $135,405. The pick six is races 3-8.

As for the filly, Camelia Rose will use the nine-furlong allowance to prep for a graded stakes campaign for trainer Simon Callaghan and owner J. Paul Reddam. Expectations into the race-7 feature are extraordinarily high.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 16:20

Algorithms off the Kentucky Derby trail, will have surgery

Barbara D. Livingston
Jockey Javier Castellano rides Algorithms to victory in the Holy Bull Stakes. Castellano also is the regular rider of Union Rags.

Algorithms will have surgery for a fractured splint bone in his right front leg and will miss the Triple Crown, trainer Todd Pletcher and co-owner Jack Wolf said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

The news ended a whirlwind 48-hour period for Algorithms, who on Sunday was scheduled to run in the Fountain of Youth Stakes but was scratched that morning from the race because of a problem with the splint. Subsequent radiographs revealed the extent of the damage.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 16:17

Santa Anita Handicap could get 13 starters

Shigeki Kikkawa
Victory Pete ran third to Game On Dude in the San Antonio.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Regardless of whether defending champion Game On Dude starts in Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap, the race will have a big field.

As of Tuesday, there were as many as 13 probable starters, but no firm decision had been made on whether Game On Dude will run. Co-owner Bernie Schiappa said on Tuesday that trainer Bob Baffert had yet to choose whether to run Game On Dude or wait for the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the Middle East on March 31. A decision was expected before Wednesday’s entry date.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 16:06

Pimlico's stakes schedule gets $525,000 bump from casino subsidy

Stakes purses for the 2012 Pimlico spring meeting in Baltimore, Md., will be worth $525,000 more this year, the track’s operator announced Tuesday, because of the impact of purse subsidies generated by casinos in the state.

The 29-day meet, which is scheduled to run from March 30 to May 19, will feature 22 stakes races worth a total of $3.425 million, highlighted by the $1 million Preakness Stakes on closing day. Sixteen of the stakes are scheduled to be run on the Friday before the Preakness and as part of the Preakness card, with total purses of $3 million.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 15:27

Gulfstream Park: Ever So Lucky has foot bruise

Barbara D. Livingston
Ever So Lucky is dealing with bruise on his left foot.

Ever So Lucky has been anything but lucky this winter for trainer Jonathan Sheppard. Ever So Lucky was forced to miss the Grade 2 Hutcheson due to a combination of several days of wet weather that disrupted his training and a little gash on his right foot, and now he’s suffered a second minor setback, a bruise on his left foot, Sheppard revealed Sunday.

Sheppard’s current goal for Ever So Lucky is the seven-furlong, Grade 3 Swale on March 10.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 15:25

Gulfstream Park: Florida Derby possible for Alpha

Tom Keyser
Alpha is being considered for a start in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

The likelihood of a small field for the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby on March 31, plus the chance to keep jockey Ramon Dominguez on Alpha, has trainer Kiaran McLaughlin pondering the Florida Derby for Alpha, who still has the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 7 as a potential final Kentucky Derby prep, too.

McLaughlin said the victory by Union Rags in the Fountain of Youth Stakes on Sunday might help keep the field size small for the Florida Derby. But McLaughlin also is looking down the line at a possible conflict for the Wood with Dominguez.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 15:00

Fair Grounds: Nana Knows has been key to Hawley's strong seasons

Lynn Roberts
Nana Knows (right) wins the 2010 Elge Rasberry at Louisiana Downs.

Wes Hawley has but one regret about how well his training career is going.

“I just wish Glenda was here to enjoy it all,” said Hawley, who lost his wife in 2006 to cancer.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 14:36

Santa Anita Handicap: Pedroza has his dream mount in Ultimate Eagle

Shigeki Kikkawa
Martin Pedroza rides Ultimate Eagle to victory in the Strub.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The veteran jockey Martin Pedroza can be described as durable, strong-willed, and very possessive.

Six times in the last year, Pedroza, 46, has been involved in a spill or unseated in a race in Southern California. He has missed a few mounts or a day to recover, but has escaped serious injury.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 14:33

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority approves lease of Monmouth to horsemen

The board of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority has given its preliminary approval to an agreement to lease Monmouth Park to the state’s horsemen group, but questions still surround whether the track will be able to fund stakes races this year.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 14:12

Gulfstream Park: Stakes on deck for Zo Impressive

Barbara D. Livingston
Zo Impressive wins an allowance race by more than four lengths on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Tom Albertrani was a little hoarse when chatting during training hours Monday, the remnants of a week-long bout with the flu. But one couldn’t be faulted for thinking Albertrani might have strained his voice cheering for the latest star in his barn, the undefeated 3-year-old filly Zo Impressive, who remained unbeaten and untested after two starts following her impressive entry-level allowance win here Saturday.