MIAMI – Saturday’s Festival of the Sun program at Calder got itself a pretty good opening act when trainer David Fawkes led over Big Drama, his reigning Eclipse Award winner and defending Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion, for a public workout between the afternoon’s third and fourth races.
Flat Out had his first workout since his victory in the Oct. 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup when posting a bullet drill in 59.80 seconds Saturday morning over a fast track at Churchill Downs.
Greta Kuntzweiler was aboard Flat Out in the work, which was the fastest of 46 at the distance. Flat Out, owned by Preston Stables, figures to be one of the favorites when the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic is run Nov. 5 at Churchill.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The recent Grade 1 winners Dubawi Heights and Weemissfrankie were among the Breeders’ Cup hopefuls who had workouts at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Dubawi Heights, the winner of the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Stakes on Oct. 1 and a candidate for the BC Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4, worked a half-mile in 47.60 seconds, which was slightly quicker than expected, trainer Simon Callaghan said.
Lightly raced 3-year-old filly Champagne Dancer and 26-race veteran mare Idle Talk look like prime contenders in Tuesday’s turf feature at Laurel Park.
Scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on grass, the eighth race drew a full field of 14 fillies and mares eligible for a second-level allowance or a claiming price of $20,000 to $25,000.
Several strong angles shout out that Solar Storm will be difficult to beat in Monday’s sprint feature at Delaware Park.
The eighth race, a second-level optional $40,000 claimer, drew a field of six fillies and mares going 5 1/2 furlongs.
Portland Meadows opens its 55-day season Monday with a mixed nine-race program that features two races for Quarter Horses and seven for Thoroughbreds.
The forthcoming season, which runs until mid-March, may be the last of its kind.
Track general manager Will Alempijevic said on Friday that Portland Meadows will shift to a July through November schedule, beginning next year, pending approval from the Oregon Racing Commission. As a result, the track will have about four months off between meetings.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainer Al Stall Jr. said the 2-year-old filly he sent out to smash the six-furlong record Friday at Keeneland in her career debut will stay racing on a synthetic surface by making her next start at Hollywood Park in the Grade 1 Starlet on Dec. 10.
Currency Swap, the unbeaten winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful last month at Saratoga, is out of the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile because of an ankle injury, according to trainer Terri Pompay.
Pompay, based at Monmouth Park in New Jersey, said Currency Swap has a tiny ankle chip and will undergo surgery with Dr. John Madison soon in Ocala, Fla., then get about 60 days of down time before being pointed to the major Florida preps for the 138th Kentucky Derby. The colt is owned by Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence.
Philly Bound, racing at his home track for the first time since finishing fifth in the Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup in July, splashed his way to a 2 1/4-length victory in Friday night’s $90,000 Nepal Stakes for Pennsylvania-bred sprinters at Penn National.
Yvete Sangalo, a Mexican-bred daughter of Hard Spun, became a stakes winner Friday night when she dominated by 4 1/4 lengths in the $50,000 E.L. Gaylord at Remington Park. Exchanted finished second, a length and a half in front of third-place finisher Miss Lederhosen.
The Gaylord, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies, was the first in a series of weekend stakes at Remington that build up to the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday.
