Trainer Kathy Ritvo let Mucho Macho Man run down the lane a little bit over the Oklahoma training track on Friday, the first real strenuous bit of work he’s had since finishing a distant seventh following early trouble in the Belmont Stakes. Mucho Macho Man won the Grade 2 Risen Star earlier this winter as a prelude to his third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Santa Anita Handicap winner Game On Dude zipped through a five-furlong workout in 59.20 seconds at Del Mar on Saturday, leaving trainer Bob Baffert confident approaching the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 28.
The workout so impressed Baffert that he briefly kicked around the idea of sending Game On Dude to the $750,000 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.
“I should send him to the Whitney,” Baffert said shortly after the workout. “He’s ready to run.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said it looks like the Grade 1 Woodward on Labor Day will be next for Convocation following his convincing 3 1/4-length victory over Ron the Greek in a mile and one-eighth allowance race here Friday.
The victory was the first this season for Convocation, a 5-year-old son of Pulpit, who was pressed on the lead from the outset by Ice Box before ultimately asserting his superiority and edging well clear through the stretch.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Owner-trainer Tim Snyder had his 15 minutes of fame and then some a year ago after shipping his one-horse stable, Lisa’s Booby Trap, from Finger Lakes to Saratoga to win the Loudonville Stakes. Snyder is hoping for another moment in the spotlight this summer, beginning Monday, when he brings his Cinderella filly back to Saratoga to compete in Monday’s $75,000 Rachel Alexandra overnight stakes.
Hoosier Park begins its 17th season Tuesday when the 61-day summer/fall meet begins. The track’s racing secretary, Kevin Greely, is pleased with the progress the Anderson, Ind., track is making in upgrading the quality of its racing, a task he undertook when he began his job last season.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Steve Asmussen would feel a lot more comfortable about Justin Phillip’s chances to win Monday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Amsterdam Stakes if the race were being held at Belmont Park and not Saratoga.
The $50,000 Madamoiselle at Northlands Park on Monday drew five horses but the 1 1/16-mile feature for fillies and mares shapes up as a battle between Alywyn and Summer Song.
Summer Song has done most of her running at Hastings but she thrives at Northlands where she has won three stakes. Her only loss in Edmonton came in an allowance race she used as a prep for the John Patrick which she won by 2 1/2 lengths July 9. She came back to work a bullet five furlongs in 59 seconds July 25, and her trainer Alan May said she couldn’t be doing any better.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Wando Woman will be a short price when she tries to win her third straight stakes race in the $50,000 B.C. Cup Distaff. The 1 1/8-mile Distaff drew six fillies and mares and goes as the fourth race. It is one of seven stakes races for British Columbia-breds that make up the bulk of the 10-race B.C. Cup Day card at Hastings on Monday. All seven stakes are worth $50,000.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – In his 20-race career, Almost Time has won seven sprints, but just one route. Last year he was a runaway winner of the B.C. Cup Sprint. Yet, his connections have opted to run him in the 1 1/8-mile B.C. Cup Classic instead of the Sprint. The Classic headlines the 10-race B.C. Cup Day card that includes seven $50,000 stakes races restricted to British Columbia-breds at Hastings on Monday.
