Though trainer Kiaran McLaughlin nominated Redding Colliery to a couple of races in Dubai on March 31, he said the Evening Attire Stakes winner will likely make his next start in the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct on March 17.
McLaughlin, speaking Sunday at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida, said the Excelsior and the $1 million Charles Town Classic on April 14 constitute “a good program.”
Coming off a three-win day last Saturday, the Kiaran McLaughlin stable hopes to keep the good times rolling this weekend when it sends out Count Fleet Stakes winner Alpha as the probable favorite in the Grade 3, $200,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
On Monday, Alpha turned in his one and only workout between starts, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.02 over Belmont Park’s training track. It was the fastest of 14 recorded moves at the distance.
Led by reigning Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, there is plenty of depth in the older filly and mare division this year.
Awesome Feather put herself among the upper echelon of that group with a 5 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Florida Sunshine Millions Distaff that kept her undefeated in nine career starts.
Trainer Chad Brown isn’t sure where Awesome Feather – the champion 2-year-old filly of 2010 – will make her next start, but appeared to be leaning more toward the Rampart here March 31 than the Sabin on Feb. 25.
Eddie Castro climbed aboard Toby’s Corner on Monday morning for the first time since he guided the colt to an upset of Uncle Mo in last year’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Castro guided Toby’s Corner through a five-furlong workout in 1:02.02 at Palm Meadows.
For Toby’s Corner, it was his sixth breeze since returning to the work tab on Dec. 24. Toby’s Corner was knocked out of last year’s Kentucky Derby due to a hind leg injury that forced him to miss the remainder of the year.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Though he may no longer be undefeated, Hansen, the recently crowned 2-year-old champion of 2011, remains on the Triple Crown trail with a likely next start coming in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 26.
Trainer Mike Maker said Monday that, despite stumbling at the start, Hansen came out of his second-place finish to Algorithms in Sunday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Holy Bull in good shape.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - Graded stakes winners Zagora and Keertana top nine probables pointing for the Endeavour Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the Tampa Bay Downs turf on Saturday’s Sam. F. Davis undercard. Zagora won the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga last summer, and would be making her first start since September. She came off a similar layoff in last year’s Hillsborough here and led late before coming up a neck short.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – A veteran of Triple Crown delight and disappointment, trainer Todd Pletcher knows as rosy as things look right now for his 3-year-olds, they can get thorny in a hurry.
That’s why even as loaded as Pletcher appears to be for this year’s Kentucky Derby, he is doing his best to temper his enthusiasm.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Ever So Lucky, who made everybody’s Kentucky Derby watch list immediately after his sensational maiden win last fall at Churchill Downs, will launch his 3-year-old campaign in the seven-furlong Hutcheson on Feb. 11, trainer Jonathan Sheppard confirmed Monday.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – A trio of stakes are on tap Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs for Festival Preview Day. The card is topped by the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds that is a prep for the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 10.
Also on the Saturday card are the Grade 3, $150,000 Endeavour for fillies and mares on the turf and the $150,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the turf.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Eoin Harty says he’s expecting big things out of Endorsement this season, beginning with a victory in Wednesday’s $56,500 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.
Endorsement will be making his third start since suffering a condylar fracture just days before the 2010 Kentucky Derby. A son of Distorted Humor owned by Casner Racing LP, Endorsement has finished second in each of his first two tries on the comeback trail, at six furlongs here on Dec. 10 and a mile on New Year’s Day. He’ll stretch out to 1 1/16 miles in Wednesday’s main event.
