Two Emmys is closing in on his fourth season of racing at Fair Grounds, with the Jan. 21 Colonel E.R. Bradley a likely comeback spot pending his final timed workout or two, trainer and principal owner Hugh Robertson said Tuesday.
Two Emmys has gone 3-3-1 from nine Fair Grounds grass starts, finishing second to Colonel Liam in the 2021 Muniz Memorial and winning the Muniz, Fair Grounds’ most important turf race, last March over Santin.
The last week of 2022 proved especially satisfying for the Jason Barkley stable at Fair Grounds.
On Dec. 26, Spooky Channel, now 8, returned from a 14-month layoff to win the $100,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes. On Dec. 31, Barkley sent 2-year-old filly Forest Chimes into her career debut, a two-turn maiden-special-weight race she won by 7 1/2 lengths. Racing over a good, sealed dirt surface, Forest Chimes clocked 1:47.34 for 1 1/16 miles and earned a 79 Beyer Speed Figure.
Extra Anejo, the highly promising newly turned 3-year-old, is on his way to Fair Grounds from Kentucky after being cleared this week to resume training.
Late last year, Extra Anejo had successful surgery to remove a bone chip from a hind ankle. Monday, Extra Anejo had a PET (positron emission tomography) scan and after a full evaluation of the colt’s condition, noted veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage gave the go-ahead for Extra Anejo to go back into training with Steve Asmussen.
In a perfect world, Extra Anejo and Loggins would have been the two most exciting 3-year-old colts training at Fair Grounds at the start of 2023. In this world, neither colt is training at all right now, and every day that circumstance prevails, the chances of either making major races this spring diminishes.
Loggins hasn’t raced or even worked since he finished a tough second, beaten a neck by Forte, in the Oct. 8 Breeders’ Futurity. Forte went on to beat Cave Rock in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and is all but certain to be named champion 2-year-old of 2022.
Wonder Wheel, who is exercising at trainer Mark Casse’s Casse Farm in Florida toward her 3-year-old debut, overcame a tough trip to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. A two-time Grade 1 winner during 2022, she’s sure to be named champion 2-year-old filly at the Eclipse Awards later this month. But you can bet your last dollar that Tom Amoss would not – as trainers are wont to state – trade places with anyone when it comes to 3-year-old fillies of 2023.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It is likely Lugan Knight and Arctic Arrogance, the one-two finishers from Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, will go their separate ways for their next starts.
Lugan Knight, who beat Arctic Arrogance by a half-length in the Jerome, was scheduled on Tuesday to return to Kentucky, where he is based with Justin Curran, assistant to trainer Michael McCarthy.
McCarthy indicated after the Jerome that a potential next start for Lugan Knight is the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes, like the Jerome, a one-turn mile, on March 4 at Aqueduct.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Jeff Mullins has been fined $1,500 and suspended 15 days as part of a stipulated agreement with the California Racing Board for a medication violation found in Inch, the winner of the sixth race at Del Mar on Aug. 25.
Inch tested positive for the bronchodilator clenbuterol, which is not allowed to appear in post-race tests. Inch won a starter allowance at five furlongs on turf by three-quarters of a length.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Thirsty John could appear in a stakes for 3-year-olds anywhere in the nation after winning his stakes debut in Saturday’s $200,000 California Cup Derby for statebreds at Santa Anita.
The win had breeder and co-owner Terry Lovingier eager to try Thirsty John in a Triple Crown prep race, pending conversations with trainer Peter Miller.
“I told Peter, ‘We’ll travel anywhere and do anything you want to do,’ ” Lovingier said Saturday afternoon.
Consecutive wins by Ice Dancing in a maiden race at a mile at Del Mar in late November and Sunday’s Grade 3 Santa Ynez Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita have left Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella expecting more from the 3-year-old filly this winter.
The next few months will determine where Ice Dancing ranks in the California and national division.
“She’s a big, strong, good-looking and I think she’ll get better as we go,” he said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Law Professor came out of his dominant 7 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Queens County Stakes in good order and will likely be headed back to graded stakes company for his next start, though where that will occur is yet to be determined.
Trainer Rob Atras and the ownership group Twin Creeks Racing Stable will have plenty of options including, possibly, the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 28.
