ELMONT, N.Y. – With rain forecast as an odds-on proposition, Mother Nature could wreak havoc with Wednesday’s card. Five races are scheduled for turf, beginning with race 2, a six-furlong optional claimer scheduled for the inner course.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Plans for Redeemed and Prayer for Relief following their respective first- and third-place finishes in the Oklahoma Derby were still being determined Monday, while Alternation likely wrapped his 3-year-old campaign with his runner-up finish in Sunday’s race at Remington Park.
Willcox Inn is back in Kentucky after his blowout win here Saturday in the Hawthorne Derby, one of three victories on the day for trainer Mike Stidham. Monday, Stidham confirmed that Willcox Inn is being pointed to the Nov. 27 Hollywood Derby for his 2011 finale provided the colt continues giving his connections positive signs in coming weeks.
“He’s back at Keeneland, happy,” Stidham said. “We’re looking at the Hollywood Derby. After that he’ll go to Mill Ridge farm for a little ‘R and R.’ ”
STICKNEY, Ill. – Chicago-based trainer Chris Block could have two starters in Breeders’ Cup races next month at Churchill Downs, or he could have none. Giant Oak is probable for the BC Marathon, while Never Retreat is a possible runner in the BC Mile, Block said Monday.
Giant Oak appeared to have exited his somewhat disappointing fifth-place finish Oct. 8 in the Hawthorne Gold Cup without any physical issues or undue fatigue, though Block said Giant Oak is not the easiest horse to read.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Miss Keller was coming off an impressive win here at Woodbine in the Grade 2 Canadian when she finished a strong second at 3-1 for trainer Roger Attfield in last year’s Grade 1 E.P. Taylor.
But with a fourth-place finish her best showing in six subsequent starts, Miss Keller was sent off at 11-1 in Sunday’s $1 million E.P. Taylor, a 1 1/4-mile turf race for fillies and mares in which eight of the 11 entrants were European invaders.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Although Keeneland hits the precise midpoint of its 17-day meet with its ninth program Wednesday, all of the major fall races – including six Grade 1 events and all major preps for the Breeders’ Cup – already are in the books.
That said, the emphasis over the next 10 days will shift from afternoons at Keeneland to mornings at Churchill in Louisville, where workouts toward the BC have begun in earnest.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Going the distance will be the focus of back-to-back, first-level allowance races Wednesday at Keeneland. The first is for 3-year-olds and upward at the rarely-run expanse of 1 1/4 miles on Polytrack, while the second is a mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies, most of whom have never raced that far.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Up In Time is likely to face older fillies and mares for the first time in a stakes in the $250,000 Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park on Nov. 25, following her victory in Sunday’s $100,000 Harold Ramser Stakes at Santa Anita.
Trainer Simon Callaghan had mentioned the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes over a mile on turf as a possibility if Up In Time ran to expectations in the Grade 3 Ramser, the 3-year-old filly’s second stakes win of the year. She won the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap in July; both of her stakes wins have been over a mile on turf.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sassy Image came out of a recent work at Churchill Downs with a chip in a hind ankle and will not run in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, trainer Dale Romans said Monday morning.
“It’s non-displaced and not a bad injury, and she might not even have to have surgery,” said Romans. “Obviously the timing is bad. We think she did it in her last work [Oct. 8]. Now we’ll just let her down, give her some time, and figure out what’s best for her future.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Sarah Lynx had been nominated to both the Grade 1 Canadian International, traditionally the domain of males, and the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor for fillies and mares.
And, after weighing the pros and cons of the two turf features here at Woodbine last Sunday, trainer John Hammond elected to take the road less traveled and run Sarah Lynx in the $1.5 million Canadian International.
