SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher said that Giant Surprise, who won his debut in impressive fashion in Saturday’s second race at Saratoga, will undergo surgery to repair a condylar fracture in his left front leg. Giant Surprise pulled up on the clubhouse turn and was vanned off following his wire-to-wire, 4 1/4-length triumph.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - More than 180 horses turned in timed workouts over a fast main track here on Sunday morning, including four tuning up Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney.
Mission Impazible, Rodman, and Giant Oak all worked five furlongs following the renovation break, while Duke Of Mischief went a half mile in his first breeze over the track since arriving from his Calder base earlier in the week.
Magical Feeling split rivals in deep stretch to win the $105,200 Regret Stakes for filly and mare sprinters on the Haskell Day undercard at Monmouth Park.
Magical Feeling extended her winning streak to three with her first stakes victory for trainer Allen Iwinski.
Roberto Alvarado Jr. had her sitting last in the early stages before unleashing a surge to beat Bronx City Girl by a head with Love That Dance third.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Long Gone, a 3-1 shot, finished first in Saturday’s $461,000 Governor’s Cup Futurity at Los Alamitos, but was disqualified and placed ninth for interfering with a stablemate late in the 350-yard race.
The incident led to the promotion of 3-2 favorite Fixin to Fly from second to first, but there was no winner’s circle photo after Fixin to Fly was pulled up on the backstretch by jockey Jay Conklin as a precaution. Fixin to Fly was vanned back to trainer Jim Hanson’s barn and was later diagnosed to have suffered a bone chip in a knee, Hanson said on Sunday.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Twirling Candy, the five-time stakes winner, will make his next start in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 28, trainer John Sadler said on Sunday.
The decision was made after Twirling Candy worked five furlongs in 59.60 seconds under jockey Joel Rosario at Del Mar on Sunday and following weekend conversations with the partnership that owns the 4-year-old colt – breeder Jenny Craig, Marty Wygod, and William S. Farish.
“He’s trained so well on this racetrack and he worked super on it today,” Sadler said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Chad Brown won the first Grade 1 race of his training career when Zagora rallied to a convincing victory in Saturday’s Diana Handicap. The following morning, Brown was back at the track preparing another of his top turf fillies, Stacelita, for a shot at perhaps his next Grade 1 win.
Brown sent out Stacelita to work five furlongs in 1:00.94 seconds over the Oklahoma turf course on Sunday in preparation for her next start in Arlington’s Grade 1 Beverly D. on Aug. 13.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Mission Approved is stabled at Belmont Park and his next scheduled start is to come at Arlington Park. But on Sunday, the 7-year-old claimer-turned-Grade 1 winner made a whirlwind trip to Saratoga in order to get a workout over a grass course. And did he ever make the trip worthwhile.
With regular rider Jose Espinoza in the irons, Mission Approved drilled five furlongs in 57.65 seconds over the Oklahoma turf course on Sunday. He got his final quarter in 22.62 seconds and galloped out six furlongs in 1:09.69 and seven furlongs in 1:22.76.
Halo Dolly ($5) picked up her initial stakes victory as she scored her fourth straight victory Saturday with a 5 1/2-length romp in the $61,910 Diamond Jubilee at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa.
Halo Dolly, part of a three-horse Jerry Hollendorfer entry in the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies, improved her turf record to 2-for-2 with the easy victory over Can Do It Again. Windy Sails was third, two lengths behind Can Do It Again.
Welcome to Spa Babies! I'll break down the statistics for every juvenile contest at the meet and hope for a tidy profit.
In past years, I would list the stats for each horse before writing up my analysis, selections and wagering strategy.
In order to streamline the content, this year's Spa Babies will showcase written analyses of each juvenile race.
Each analysis will include relevant statistical information. Following the analysis, top three selections and wagering strategy will be provided.
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Welcome to Spa Babies! I'll break down the statistics for every juvenile contest at the meet and hope for a tidy profit.
In past years, I would list the stats for each horse before writing up my analysis, selections and wagering strategy.
In order to streamline the content, this year's Spa Babies will showcase written analyses of each juvenile race.
Each analysis will include relevant statistical information. Following the analysis, top three selections and wagering strategy will be provided.
