DEL MAR, Calif. – Courageous Cat may be back in California next month for an attempt at a second major stakes win in as many visits.
Owner Marty Wygod and trainer Bill Mott said on Thursday that Courageous Cat is a candidate for the $200,000 Del Mar Mile on turf on Aug. 27, which could be the 5-year-old’s first start since a win in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park on July 2. “We’re seriously thinking of it,” Wygod said.
Three-year-olds will be in the spotlight Saturday at Calder, with both the $75,000 El Kaiser and its filly counterpart, the $75,000 Three Ring, highlighting a card that also includes the $55,000 Ms Brookski for older fillies and mares on the turf.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – That neither Dominus nor Alternation participated in the Triple Crown series was not a result of their connections thinking they didn’t have the talent to compete with the best of their generation.
In the case of Dominus, bad luck resulted in the horse not getting started on his 3-year-old season until late March. In the case of Alternation, a conservative approach prompted his connections to keep the Peter Pan Stakes winner out of the Belmont Stakes for which he likely would have been among the favorites.
Frisky Thunder and Bopolene, a pair of turf specialists who have been around long enough to make 20 starts apiece on grass, return to familiar spots where they have experienced past success on Saturday during the Commonwealth Turf Fest at Colonial Downs.
The 10-race card, which begins at 4:35 p.m. Eastern, features five grass stakes worth $50,000 apiece for Virginia-breds, at distances ranging from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Wild About Tiffany, like most horses, perked up with the shift from Calder to Monmouth Park.
She is 2 for 2 since coming north to trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. The outcome was never in doubt in either contest.
Wild About Tiffany takes the next step on Saturday, making her stakes debut in the $65,000 Crank It Up for 3-year-old fillies going 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf.
A one-hour broadcast on NBC-TV featuring live coverage of the Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday had total viewership of 1.18 million people, the network said on Thursday, a figure that exceeded the viewership figure for three of the last five Breeders’ Cup telecasts.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Anne’s Beauty will turn back to her favorite distance of seven furlongs Saturday at Woodbine in the Duchess Stakes, a wide-open $150,000 event for 3-year-old fillies.
The highlight of Anne’s Beauty’s 2-year-old campaign was a fast score over Nina Fever in the seven-furlong Glorious Song Stakes, for which she got an Beyer Speed Figure of 83.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Morris Bailey is in a hopeful mood these days.
He said he believes Concealed Identity, the gelding he owns in partnership with Linda Gaudet, can outrun his 12-1 morning line odds in the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Sunday at Monmouth Park.
In the bigger picture, Bailey is sanguine about the prospects of reviving New Jersey racing, now that he is in final stages of a lease negotiation to take control of Monmouth from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Blinkers have changed Kevlar Kid, who makes his stakes debut in Saturday’s $200,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar.
Before adding the basic piece of equipment, Kevlar Kid had 1 win in 6 starts, and three losses as a favorite. When blinkers were added in the spring, Kevlar Kid won two consecutive optional claimers over 1 1/16 miles at Hollywood Park to earn a spot in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap, run over the same distance.
The lineup for Saturday night’s 38th running of the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup at Penn National Race Course includes the 2009 winner and a horse who last year was narrowly beaten by eventual Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint champion Chamberlain Bridge in Penn National Race Course’s most prestigious stakes. But all eyes, and the bulk of the betting public’s wagers, will probably be on Maryland shipper Ben’s Cat.
The five-furlong Governor’s Cup is the fifth-race turf feature on a 10-race card that includes two $100,000 stakes and begins earlier than usual at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
