Shackleford arrived at Monmouth Park at about 7:30 a.m. Eastern Wednesday following an overnight van ride from Kentucky in his quest to add the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational to what trainer Dale Romans hopes will be a champion’s resume.
Shackleford, winner of the Preakness and one of the leading candidates for the top 3-year-old of 2011, had an uneventful trip to the New Jersey shore after leaving his home base of Churchill Downs on Tuesday evening on a Sallee horse van.
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.
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.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Tom Bush was intently eyeing Get Stormy as his multiple Grade 1 winner began to pick up momentum under jockey Ramon Dominguez during his final workout over the Oklahoma turf course in preparation for Sunday’s Grade 2 Fourstardave here at Saratoga. Suddenly, Bush heard the blaring sound of the horn that is activated when a horse gets loose on the track.
Grade 1 winner Prince Will I Am has been sent home to his owners Casa Farm in Lexington, Ky., trainer Michelle Nihei confirmed on Tuesday. Prince Will I Am won the Grade 1 Jamaica at 3 as well as both the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida and W.L. McKnight Handicap in Florida last winter. But he had finished off the board in each of his last two starts, the Grade 1 Turf Classic and Manhattan Handicap.
AUBURN, Wash. – After suffering severe injuries when she was thrown from a horse more than five months before, Jennifer Whitaker found a soft landing spot for her return to race-riding last Sunday. Reunited with Libby Creek, a 7-year-old mare with whom she had won five races previously, Whitaker worked out a last-to-first trip and landed triumphant in the Emerald Downs winner’s circle.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Arlington has expanded its purse reduction policy in races that attract short fields beginning this week.
From the start of the meet, 15 percent of a race’s published purse was returned to the purse account if fewer than seven horses came to the paddock for the race, but that policy will now be triggered by a field of fewer than eight starters. For now, at least, Arlington has averted an across-the-board purse cut, something that was recently considered in light of business trends.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.– Duke of Mischief arrived by van from his home base at Calder on Tuesday to begin final preparations for the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney on Aug. 6 here at Saratoga.
Trainer David Fawkes had been on the fence for the past week regarding Duke of Mischief’s status for the Whitney before finally making the decision over the weekend to run. Duke of Mischief is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap after having won the $1 million Charles Town Classic earlier this spring.
Trainer Andrew Leggio was traveling from his Bossier City, La., base to Saratoga on Tuesday in order to watch St. John’s River work toward the Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama Stakes. She was scheduled to breeze Wednesday morning under Robby Albarado, who will have the mount in the Aug. 20 race, Leggio said.
St. John’s River won the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks on July 9. It was her first start since May, when she finished second by a neck in the Kentucky Oaks. Leggio said St. John’s River shipped from Delaware to New York on July 16.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – A little more than two weeks out, the Arlington Million is looking like the least compelling of the three Grade 1 turf races on the Aug. 13 Million Day card. That’s not to say the Million is coming up poorly, but both the Beverly D. and Secretariat Stakes have a chance to attract fairly awesome fields.
