ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, who has not ridden since January, recently completed a 60-day suspension issued by Del Mar stewards in August related to an altercation at an RV park at Del Mar last fall.
While Desormeaux’s short-term plans regarding a potential return to riding are unclear, he has been suspended eight racing days in coming weeks after losing appeals of two penalties issued at Del Mar for causing interference in summer 2021.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Laurel River continues to blaze through morning workouts in the buildup to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 5.
An easy winner of the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 27, Laurel River worked five furlongs in 1:00 at Santa Anita on Sunday, the second-fastest time at the distance.
In recent weeks, Laurel River worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds on Sept. 30 and six furlongs in 1:12.40 on Oct. 10, the fastest times of the mornings at those distances.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - You’re My Girl, runner-up to Chocolate Gelato in the Grade 1 Frizette, worked five furlongs in 1:00.07 Sunday morning over the Belmont Park training track as she prepares for a start in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland on Nov. 4.
Her connections previously said they would pay the $100,000 supplemental fee to make You’re My Girl eligible for the Breeders’ Cup. A New York-bred daughter of Overanalyze, You’re My Girl won her debut by 14 1/2 lengths against statebreds on Sept. 2 at Saratoga.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Shug McGaughey can only hope the victory by Skims in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point Stakes at Aqueduct is the start of a successful three-week run for the Hall of Fame trainer, who figures to be quite active in stakes both in New York and Kentucky.
On Sunday, at Belmont Park, McGaughey worked a bevy of horses pointing to important stakes in the coming weeks.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., will have a post time of 5:40 p.m. Eastern time, the Breeders’ Cup announced on Friday.
The Classic will be the final Breeders’ Cup race on a 12-race card at Keeneland that will start at 10:30 a.m. The first Breeders’ Cup race on the Saturday card will have a post time of 11:50 a.m. Two non-Breeders’ Cup races will precede the first Breeders’ Cup race, and one non-Breeders’ Cup race will close the card after the Classic.
Though he will retire from training horses at the end of the year, Richard Schosberg still plans to be a fixture on the backstretch of New York Racing Association tracks in his many behind-the-scenes roles helping horsemen and with Thoroughbred aftercare.
“I’m going to be on the backstretch. I’m not disappearing,” Schosberg, whose retirement from training at year’s end was first reported Thursday by Blood Horse, said Friday morning at his barn.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainer Chad Brown has confirmed Raging Sea for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, the Nov. 4 race that will be just the third start for the Curlin filly.
“I left her there at Keeneland after the Alcibiades,” Brown said this week from New York. “We’ll train her along as if she’s going to run. I do want to see how she works before making a final decision.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Glass Ceiling, winner of a pair of Grade 3 stakes earlier this year, will likely have one more race before she is to be sold at the Fasig-Tipton auction on Nov. 6, trainer and part-owner Charlton Baker said.
Glass Ceiling is pointing to the $120,000 Pumpkin Pie Stakes on Oct. 29 at Aqueduct, Baker said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Fingal’s Cave, an undefeated New York-bred 3-year-old filly, will step into graded stakes company for the first time when she runs in the Grade 2, $350,000 Raven Run Stakes on Oct. 22 at Keeneland, trainer David Donk said Thursday.
Donk said the chance to keep Fingal’s Cave facing her own age group was a major factor in deciding on the seven-furlong Raven Run over a race such as the Empire Distaff for New York-bred fillies and mares on Oct. 30 at Aqueduct.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Charge It, the star-crossed 3-year-old, suffered another setback and is no longer being pointed to the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Dec. 3, trainer Todd Pletcher said this week.
Charge It, unraced since winning the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes by 23 lengths on July 2, has been plagued by foot problems that forced him to miss the Travers in late August and the Pennsylvania Derby in late September. He returned to the work tab on Sept. 27 with the hopes of making it to the Grade 2 Kelso on Oct. 29 at Aqueduct and then the Cigar Mile.
