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.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jockey Manny Franco tied a New York Racing Association record by riding six winners on one card Friday at Aqueduct.
Franco went 6 for 7 on the nine-race card, booting home Uncorrelated ($6.10) in the opener, Quick Chaos ($12.20) in the fourth, Vallarand ($4.70) in the fifth, Baron’s Legacy ($18.80) in the sixth, Kant Hurry Love ($6.60) in the eighth, and Bourbon Calling ($13.40) in the ninth. His lone loss on the card came aboard Wild Banker, who finished sixth in race 7.
Franco had ridden five winners on a NYRA card four times.
All-sources handle at New York Racing Association tracks – Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga – in 2022 was $2,321,863,828, down 2.2 percent compared to $2,372,772,917 handled a year ago, according to figures released Friday by the company.
There were 1,855 races conducted over 196 dates in 2022 compared to 1,887 races run over 201 days in 2021. Average daily handle in 2022 was $11,846,244, slightly higher than the $11,809,816 average in 2021.
Jockey Joree Scriver suffered lower-limb paralysis in a one-horse accident at Sunland Park in New Mexico on Jan. 1 and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in nearby El Paso, Texas, her family said Friday.
Scriver, 21, underwent two surgeries earlier this week after sustaining multiple vertebra fractures, according to her boyfriend, jockey Luis Fuentes. She also suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Champions Dream, whom Danny Gargan trained to victory in the Grade 3 Nashua here last Nov. 6, has been moved to Mark Casse. Champions Dream is being pointed to Saturday’s $125,000 Pasco Stakes, a seven-furlong race at Tampa Bay Downs.
Despite Champions Dream having won two of three starts, owner Jeffrey Weiss, who races under the moniker Rosedown Racing Stables, moved the horse to Casse shortly after the Nashua. The horse has worked four times at Casse’s farm in Ocala, Fla.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Dubyuhnell, winner of the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct on Dec. 3, returned to the work tab Tuesday, breezing a half-mile in 50.50 seconds at the Palm Meadows training center in South Florida.
While trainer Danny Gargan mentioned three potential spots for Dubyuhnell’s 3-year-old debut, he said is “leaning toward” the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 11. The other options are the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers at Aqueduct and the Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull at Gulfstream, both on Feb. 4.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Les Bon Temps, winner of the $500,000 Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes on Dec. 17, is now with trainer Linda Rice after one of her clients, Sheila Rosenblum, purchased majority interest in the 3-year-old New York-bred filly.
The 19 stakes scheduled to be run at the Keeneland spring meet in April this year will have record total purses of $8.05 million, including money available only to Kentucky-bred horses, the track announced Friday.
Two Grade 1 stakes had their purses boosted by $100,000 each, the April 8 Madison Stakes and the April 15 Jenny Wiley Stakes, according to Keeneland. The two races, which are both for older females, will have purses of $600,000 each this year.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A winter preview of California 3-year-old colts for 2023 begins with predictable clarity – juvenile star Cave Rock on a list dominated by Bob Baffert.
“We have some nice 2-year-olds turning 3,” the trainer said in December. It was an understatement. Baffert’s 3-year-old roster is once again deep and includes 18 named in this preview. The best is Cave Rock, a two-time Grade 1 winner and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Quickly Park It went from a surprise win at 12-1 in the Pike Place Dancer Stakes at Golden Gate Fields in October to a ninth at 8-1 in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar on Dec. 3.
The conflicting results may confuse bettors studying Quickly Park It’s chances in Saturday’s $200,000 California Cup Oaks at a mile on turf for statebred 3-year-old fillies. From trainer Sean McCarthy’s perspective, Quickly Park It rates as a leading contender, needing only a clean journey against eight rivals to win the richest race of his career.
