ELMONT, N.Y. – Though Flat Out ran two respectable races at Saratoga when second in the Whitney and Woodward this summer, trainer Scooter Dickey is really looking forward to getting his 5-year-old horse back to Belmont Park for next month’s Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational.
Simply stated, Belmont Park is where Flat Out ran the best race of his career, wining the Grade 2 Suburban Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths in July.
AUBURN, Wash. – Newfound Man and He’s All Heart are the horses to beat Sunday in the $40,000 Muckleshoot Tribal Classic, the marquee event on Washington Cup Day at Emerald Downs. A six-stakes showcase for horses bred in Washington, or sired by stallions standing in the state, the Washington Cup races attracted 40 entrants, only one of whom has won a stakes race in 2011. That list will grow by at least five by the end of the day Sunday. First post is 2 p.m. Pacific.
When Tidal Volume won his fourth straight race in last weekend’s $50,000 Temperence Hill at Louisiana Downs, it brought Robin Murphy to tears. The horse was given to her after he fractured a knee at 2 and has now given the small business owner a sense of financial freedom. Tidal Volume, who was making his stakes debut in the Temperence Hill, picked up $30,000 for the win, which pushed the 5-year-old’s earnings to $116,956.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – A cutback in distance and the defection of a pair of leading contenders makes the $60,000 Politely Stakes a more favorable spot for In the Rough.
The Politely, the Sunday feature at Monmouth Park, initially drew nine fillies and mares for the 1 1/16 miles on the turf. However, the connections of Aquitaine and Unbridled Humor have indicated they will run instead in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel Stakes on Sunday at Belmont Park.
In the Rough set the pace in her latest effort, finishing fourth in Monmouth’s 1 3/8-mile Omnibus Stakes.
MIAMI – The phone rang in the Daily Racing Form office high atop the Calder grandstand during training hours one morning earlier this week with a familiar voice on the other end. It was Pete Anderson, the former rider turned trainer and one-time bon vivant back during racing’s hey days. And as is usually the case when speaking with Anderson, the conversation was decidedly one-sided.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s $1 million Woodbine Mile and $500,000 Northern Dancer both have richer purses and Grade 1 status, but the Grade 2, $300,000 Canadian outstrips those stakes is in terms of both quantity and quality with a field of 14 set to go postward over 1 1/8 miles of turf.
Trainer Graham Motion, who is shipping up Shared Account and Apple Charlotte from his Fair Hill, Md., base, agrees that the Canadian is far from an easy spot.
“I think this is the deepest race for fillies and mares on the turf this season,” said Motion.
POMONA, Calif. – The summer meet at Del Mar was a disaster for 2-year-old Unhitchthetrailor.
“He had two horrendous trips,” trainer Gary Sherlock said. “The last one was a nightmare. He was trapped on the fence and had no chance to run.”
Fairplex Park officials have taken steps to prevent a miscommunication incident such as the one Wednesday following the $50,000 C.B. Afflerbaugh Stakes. The jockey on third-place Inquisitive Son, Edwin Maldonado, claimed foul against winner Runstevierun for an incident at the top of the stretch. Initially, it was believed Maldonado did not claim foul.
California Flag, 7-years-old, may have lost a step since winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in 2009 at Santa Anita, but the gelding is rounding back into form and trainer Brian Koriner looks forward to giving California Flag a chance to win the Grade 3 Morvich for a third time on Oct. 10.
“He’ll be back on his favorite course, and this will tell us [his ability level],” Koriner said.
Graded stakes-winning sprinter Amazombie missed a week of training with a bruised foot that compromises his fall campaign, including a scheduled start Oct. 8 at Santa Anita in the Grade 1 Ancient Title Stakes.
“I’m behind about one work,” trainer Bill Spawr said. “I’ve probably got enough time, or I could fall back on the Cal Cup Sprint.”
The $100,000 Cal Cup is Oct. 29.
