Mon, 02/06/2012 - 15:11

Take Charge Indy eyes Tampa Bay Derby

Barbara D. Livingston
Take Charge Indy is being pointed to the Tampa Bay Derby.

Trainer Pat Byrne said Take Charge Indy's next major objective will likely be the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 10. Take Charge Indy, who closed his 2-year-old campaign finishing fifth in the BC Juvenile, earned a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure while finishing two lengths behind El Padrino in his 3-year-old debut.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 15:08

Discreet Dancer misses work due to fever

Barbara D. Livingston
Discreet Dancer missed a scheduled workout Monday due to a fever.

Prospective Fountain of Youth starter, Discreet Dancer, did not get his scheduled work in Monday, but not because of the weather. Trainer Todd Pletcher said Discreet Dancer spiked a slight temperature Monday, forcing him to cancel his planned workout.

“We’re still 20 days out, so if he were to get over it quickly I wouldn’t rule out the possibility he still could make the Fountain of Youth,” said Pletcher who also confirmed that his unbeaten Algorithms will go in the Fountain of Youth.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 14:37

Aqueduct: Nicole H will come back quickly for Barbara Fritchie

Tom Keyser
Nicole H, ridden by Ramon Dominguez, is now 4 for 4 in stakes over Aqueduct's inner track after taking the Correction.

It is not trainer Mike Hushion’s modus operandi to wheel a horse back in two weeks, but he believes the timing is right to do just that with Correction Stakes winner Nicole H, who will point to the Grade 2, $150,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap at Laurel Park on Feb. 18.

Nicole H won Saturday’s Correction by 2 1/2 lengths – her fifth win her last six starts. She ran six furlongs in 1:11.08 and earned a modest Beyer Speed Figure of 81. Hushion did not view the performance as overly taxing on Nicole H.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 14:26

Union Rags does a little extra in workout for Fountain of Youth

Barbara D. Livingston
Union Rags is working toward his 2012 debut in the Fountain of Youth Stakes.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Michael Matz had two objectives when sending his Kentucky Derby prospect Union Rags out to work early Monday morning at Palm Meadows – beat the rain and give his Grade 1 winner the opportunity to get a little bit of a blow from what otherwise would have been a routine half-mile breeze.

And in the end, Matz was able to accomplish both his goals.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 13:31

Santa Anita Derby will be I'll Have Another's next target

Benoit & Associates
I'll Have Another, making just his fourth lifetime start and first around two turns, wins comfortably under Mario Guiterrez in the Robert Lewis.

ARCADIA, Calif. – I’ll Have Another, the upset winner of the Robert Lewis Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, came out of the race well and will await the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 7 for his next and final prep for the May 5 Kentucky Derby, his trainer, Doug O’Neill, said Monday morning.

O’Neill said that he and owner Paul Reddam, along with Reddam’s wife, Zillah, and O’Neill’s brother, Dennis – an advisor to Reddam – met at Santa Anita’s Frontrunner restaurant on Sunday afternoon and decided it was prudent to not jam in another prep race.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 13:19

Gulfstream: Glamour N Glory gets class test in turf feature

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Glamour N Glory, whose career has flourished since trainer David Fawkes switched her to the turf last fall at Calder, will try allowance competition for the first time when she takes on 10 rivals, including the Todd Pletcher-trained Dancing Solo, in Wednesday’s first-level optional $75,000 claiming feature at Gulfstream Park.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 12:59

Tampa Bay: Dixie Strike gives Oxley another shot at Kentucky Oaks

Tom Cooley
Dixie Strike closes strongly under Jose Lezcano to win Saturday’s Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – It has been 17 years since Gal In a Ruckus carried the colors of John C. Oxley to victory in the 1995 Kentucky Oaks, and now, in the wake of Dixie Strike’s thrilling stretch-running victory in last Saturday’s $150,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs, Oxley and trainer Mark Casse have their sights set on the 2012 Oaks.

Mon, 02/06/2012 - 12:49

Aqueduct: McLaughin stablemates Falaah, Crossbow eye Tom Fool

Even going winless with three starters at Gulfstream on Sunday, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has won with 9 or his last 18 starters between Aqueduct and Gulfstream. In a span of 24 hours last week, he unleashed three very good-looking sprinters, including Falaah and Crossbow, who both won at Aqueduct, and Emcee, who romped to a victory at Gulfstream.

Sun, 02/05/2012 - 18:24

Santa Anita: Game On Dude overcomes slow start in San Antonio

Benoit & Associates
Game On Dude, making his first start since the Breeders' Cup Classic, rolls to a 5 1/4-length win under Chantal Sutherland in the Grade 2 San Antonio.

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Game On Dude took a little longer than expected to start his 2012 campaign, breaking flat-footed when the gate opened for the Grade 2, $200,000 San Antonio Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita, but he quickly made up for lost time by overpowering his four opponents while rolling to an impressive, 5 1/4-length victory.

“My heart went right in my throat,” winning jockey Chantal Sutherland said of the tardy start. “I could see all the other heads looking, ‘Where’d she go?’ ”

Sun, 02/05/2012 - 12:48

Santa Anita: Eswan Flores earns five-pound apprentice status

ARCADIA, Calif. - Apprentice jockey Eswan Flores won the 40th race of his career in Friday’s eighth race and will claim a five-pound allowance for the rest of his apprentice term, through Sept. 11.

Flores, 18, began riding Thoroughbreds last July. The current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting is by far the best of his first season. Through Saturday, he ranked fourth in the standings with 16 wins, trailing leader Joel Rosario by 14 wins.

Flores had three wins on Jan. 29, the third triple of his career.

Figueroa gets three-day suspension