Until about one month ago, trainer Andy Leggio had hoped to launch St. John’s River’s 2012 campaign in the Tiffany Lass Stakes on Feb. 11, but the start-date to the 4-year-old filly’s season has been pushed significantly back.
In early January, St. John’s River was shipped to Kentucky for throat surgery to correct a breathing problem, and she has yet to return to New Orleans, Leggio said Wednesday.
Nehro, the 2011 Kentucky Derby runner-up, is making steady progress toward his 2012 debut, according both to trainer Steve Asmussen as well as the colt’s pattern of morning workouts.
On Tuesday, Nehro breezed five furlongs in 1:03, his longest work this winter and his fourth drill since resuming serious training late last year.
“He came out of it in good shape, and he’s progressing nicely,” said Asmussen. “I like the miles he’s gotten in, and the way he’s coming along. We’re bringing this process along pretty slow because we want him to last.”
Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Stakes drew a solid group of eight older sprinters with the two top contenders – Candyman E and Calibrachoa – returning from extended layoffs.
Candyman E went 6 for 7 in 2011 and won all four of his starts for trainer Tony Dutrow, including the $150,000 De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel on Oct. 22, his most recent race.
Dutrow said the allure of the purse was incentive to ship the horse from south Florida to New York for this six-furlong race.
Trainer Gary Hartlage said Wednesday that no next-race plans have been set for On Fire Baby, the multiple Grade 2 winner who finished third against males in the $100,000 Smarty Jones here Jan. 16.
“Depending on the weather, she’s going to work sometime this weekend, then we’ll see what’s going on from there,” Hartlage said. “We haven’t made any decisions.”
Hartlage said On Fire Baby would probably be nominated to the $75,000 Martha Washington, a one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies here Feb. 11.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Six years ago, the Maryland-based trainer Mike Trombetta used Aqueduct as a path to get to the Kentucky Derby with Sweetnorthernsaint, who finished seventh behind Barbaro in the 2006 Kentucky Derby as the lukewarm 5-1 favorite.
Sweetnorthernsaint won a maiden race over the inner track in his third start and the Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel in his fourth start before returning to Aqueduct, where he was beaten less than a length in the Gotham Stakes.
The Robert B. Lewis is one of three graded stakes on Saturday’s program at Santa Anita, joined by the $200,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles on the main track and the $150,000 Arcadia Stakes over a mile on turf.
Tapizar, winner of the Grade 2 San Fernando Stakes last month, will be a heavy favorite in the Strub Stakes, a key prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 3. Bob Baffert, who trains Liaison, has the two entrants who drew the inside in the field of eight in the Strub – Jaycito and Prayer for Relief.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Isn’t He Clever ran himself out of New Mexico.
When the colt won the $104,200 Riley Allison Futurity over 6 1/2 furlongs by 11 3/4 lengths at Sunland Park on Dec. 30, owners Kirk and Judy Robison and trainer Henry Dominguez decided to try for a loftier goal – Saturday’s $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.
The Grade 2 Lewis Stakes over 1 1/16 miles will be Isn’t He Clever’s first start around two turns and provide a stern test for a gelding who has won 3 of 4 starts.
Applauding is on course to make her two-turn and 3-year-old debut at Fair Grounds after all.
Trainer Al Stall said Wednesday that Applauding was a likely runner in the Rachel Alexandra, part of a multi-stakes program on Feb. 25 in New Orleans. That’s a change from the tentative plan Stall and owner Ramona Bass had made last week, when the Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park became a possible spot for Applauding. But after giving the situation further consideration, the Rachel Alexandra, a 1 1/16-mile race with a $200,000 purse, became the preferred destination.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Apprehender, the 3-year-old who won his debut with a Beyer Speed Figure of 97 last month at Oaklawn Park, will remove blinkers for the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest, trainer Ingrid Mason said Wednesday.
The Southwest is the first of two graded preps for the Arkansas Derby, and the Feb. 20 race will be the two-turn debut for Apprehender. In his first start Jan. 26, he set the pace and drew out by 7 1/4 lengths in a maiden special weight sprint.
As part of its Feb. 18 card which features the Grade 2, $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap and the $100,000 John B. Campbell Handicap, Laurel Park will honor the connections of Rapid Redux, the gelding who has compiled a 22-race winning streak and earned a special Eclipse Award.
The festivities will include a poster giveaway, a winner’s circle presentation, and an autograph session with owner Robert Cole, trainer David Wells, and possibly jockey J.D. Acosta.
