ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Doug O’Neill capped a successful January with a victory by Princesa Moche in Saturday’s Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita.
Princesa Moche, a 6-year-old Peruvian-bred mare, was O’Neill’s 15th win of the month. Through Sunday, he led the trainer standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.
Princesa Moche was favored in the $102,000 Megahertz, a role that seemed far-fetched when she was imported from South America last summer.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Led by Nysos, winner of the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, six California-based runners are scheduled to start on the Saudi Cup program in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14.
Nysos and Nevada Beach, first and second in the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes on Dec. 28 at Santa Anita for trainer Bob Baffert, will start in the $20 million Saudi Cup at 1 1/8 miles. The field is expected to include Forever Young, winner of the BC Classic at Del Mar last November and the champion older dirt male of 2025. Forever Young, based in Japan, won the 2025 Saudi Cup.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Brian Lynch has been running horses at Gulfstream Park for 20 years, but this winter is certain to go down as his best meet yet.
Through Sunday – day 40 of the 72-day winter season – Lynch has 18 wins from 48 starters, a .375 winning percentage that is tops among trainers who have made at least eight starts. His 18 wins are fourth best in that category. At the 2023-24 meet, Lynch won 22 races from 95 starters, so he figures to top his personal-best win total at Gulfstream.
Los Alamitos will not race on the weekend of Feb. 7-8 and will be closed for training from Feb. 5-9 to conduct track maintenance, according to a statement issued on Friday.
The track has conducted similar maintenance programs in early February in past years, most recently in 2023 when no racing was conducted on the second weekend of February. Los Alamitos does not race on Super Bowl Sunday, which this year is Feb. 8.
In the statement, the track described the forthcoming renovation as “a comprehensive refresh of the one-mile dirt oval.”
Alex Birzer, who won his 4,000th race earlier this month, and Julien Leparoux, who has won two Eclipse Awards, are among the five finalists for the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, Santa Anita announced earlier this month.
The other three finalists are Tyler Baze, who rides in California; Jareth Loveberry, who is currently riding at Fair Grounds in New Orleans; and Timothy Thornton, who is based at Delta Downs in Louisiana.
Baze, who through Thursday had 2,988 wins, was the champion apprentice of 2000.
British Isles, fifth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park last Saturday, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 7, trainer Richard Baltas said on Friday.
British Isles was an 83-1 outsider in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup at 1 1/8 miles and finished 9 3/4 lengths behind race winner Skippylongstocking. Last fall, British Isles was second in the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Del Mar, losing to Nevada Beach.
Antonio Fresu is targeting a return to riding at Santa Anita on Feb. 6, nearly six weeks after he suffered a foot injury in a turf sprint on Dec. 28.
Fresu sustained a broken toe and severe cut on his left foot when his mount, Anmer Hall, struck the inside rail on the hillside turf course. Initially, Fresu hoped to return to riding this weekend but opted to delay his comeback another week.
“I took a week extra to feel more comfortable,” he said on Friday.
The Withers and three other listed stakes races at Aqueduct that were originally scheduled for Saturday, a card canceled due to extreme cold, will now be run on Feb. 6, the New York Racing Association announced Friday afternoon.
Entries for the $200,000 Withers, $150,000 Toboggan, $135,000 Ruthless, and $135,000 Ladies were to be taken on Saturday. Those four stakes will be joined on the Friday, Feb. 6 card by the $135,000 Interborough, a race that had originally been scheduled for Jan. 24 but was scrapped when that card was canceled due to weather.
Laurel Park has canceled the remainder of its Friday card and will also postpone racing on Saturday and Sunday due to “frigid temperatures,” as extreme cold and wind chill has again led to unsafe racing conditions.
Officials made the decision to cancel the Friday card after the first race, a claiming race won by Weekend Wife and jockey Andres Chavez. The same 10-race card was originally supposed to run last Saturday but was postponed for the same reason.
Trainer Steve Asmussen reported that the talented Magnitude traveled beautifully through a five-furlong team workout Thursday morning at Fair Grounds. The real traveling, though, begins Sunday, when Magnitude ships from Louisiana to Florida, and then, the next day, boards a flight bound for Saudi Arabia. His destination: the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 14.
