Big City Lights, a game second in the California Cup Sprint for statebreds at Santa Anita on Jan. 7, is scheduled to undergo exploratory knee surgery on Saturday, trainer Richard Mandella said.
Mandella said on Friday that the operation will determine whether Big City Lights has sustained cartilage damage.
“It doesn’t show much on the X-ray, but we’ll take a look,” he said.
Carlos Barbosa, who began riding in his native Puerto Rico last month, will have his American debut at Golden Gate Fields this weekend.
Barbosa, 18, is booked to ride two races on both Saturday and Sunday. Barbosa won 2 of 14 starts in Puerto Rico from Jan. 1 through last Sunday. He will be represented in this country by Nelson Arroyo.
Arroyo said last week that Barbosa intends to ride at Golden Gate Fields through the winter-spring meeting, which ends on June 11, before possibly relocating to Southern California for the summer.
Santa Anita will race on Friday, Feb. 24, a late addition to the racing schedule following cancellations caused by rain last month.
Santa Anita lost three days of racing (Jan. 1, 14 and 16) in the first half of January because of excessive rain. The track conducted a makeup day on Friday, Jan. 20.
:: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.
Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska, which opened its 37-day live meet on Friday, has declined to send its signal to out-of-state sites to avoid regulation by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, track officials said Friday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Lone Rock, a marathon specialist who has earned more than $1.4 million, is nearing a return to racing. He was given time off after running third in the Birdstone on July 28 at Saratoga. Lone Rock resumed galloping at a training center before coming to trainer Robertino Diodoro at Oaklawn.
“I would say he’s about 30 days away from a race,” Diodoro said. “He had some bottom in him before he came to us. He’s on a steady work schedule now and doing well, seems very happy.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Cogburn launched his 4-year-old season with a sharp allowance win Feb. 5 at Oaklawn and is being pointed to the Grade 3, $200,000 Whitmore on March 18 at Oaklawn, trainer Steve Asmussen said.
In his first start since May, Cogburn covered six furlongs in 1:09.87 on Feb. 5 and equaled his best Beyer Speed Figure, a 95.
“Nice horse, nice comeback,” Asmussen said.
Osbourne is another 4-year-old who launched his season with an impressive allowance win at Oaklawn. He will be considered for a start in the Whitmore, trainer Ron Moquett said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – An untimely setback to the improving 3-year-old colt Newgate has knocked the Bob Baffert trainee off the Kentucky Derby trail.
Days after Newgate won the highly rated Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 4 at Santa Anita, racing manager Tom Ryan announced Friday on Twitter that Newgate has been sidelined with a “minor hock issue.”
Slammed, winner of the Grade 2 TCA Stakes at Keeneland in October, has resumed training at Sunland Park in New Mexico with the expectation she will race in California later this year.
A 5-year-old New Mexico-bred mare, Slammed has not started since she finished last of 12 in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland on Nov. 5. She set the pace in that seven-furlong race before fading through the stretch.
“She just came back into training,” trainer Todd Fincher said earlier this week. “It’s easy, light training.
Hopkins won his first stakes in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita last Sunday. He is scheduled to run next in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Sprint in Dubai on March 25, trainer Bob Baffert said on Thursday.
A 5-year-old horse by Quality Road, Hopkins won the $200,500 Palos Verdes Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths, finishing six furlongs in 1:08.80. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Hopkins stalked pacesetter Straight No Chaser to early stretch before pulling clear.
Hopkins has won 3 of 7 starts and earned $244,700.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland Racecourse will make its tailgating amenities available on Sundays for the first time during this year’s spring meet starting April 7, the track said Thursday.
The tailgating area, known as the Hill, has become immensely popular over the past decade. Amenities, which included a jumbotron showing live races, a covered bank of live tellers and self-service machines, and food trucks, were previously only made available on Fridays and Saturdays. Keeneland also provides shuttles from the Hill to the racetrack gates.
