ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Court of the Realm is the real deal.
Despite coming into last Saturday’s Grade 2, $269,200 King Edward on a four-race win streak, Court of the Realm was sent off at 12-1 while making his stakes debut in the one-mile turf race over “good” going.
But when all was said and run, Court of the Realm had prevailed by half-length under regular rider Eurico Rosa da Silva while maintaining the promise of better things to come.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mike Tomlinson played college baseball, so he knows about games of inches. Racing is one of those, as Tomlinson was reminded three Thursdays ago when a filly named Costly was beaten a nose at Churchill Downs in her first try under his care.
Tomlinson will have another chance Thursday when he sends out Costly as part of a competitive field in a $65,200 second-level turf sprint, one of three allowances on a 12-race card at Churchill.
On behalf of Diamond F Racing, Tomlinson claimed the filly for $16,000 from a May 15 romp in the slop.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Paco Gonzalez is not one to dwell on statistics or history. He is more focused on the job in front of him.
What was once a stable of 20-plus horses now has six. What was once a stable that had several graded stakes winners annually from 1991-2002 may be on the verge of its first win at that level in nearly nine years.
This week, Gonzalez’s task is getting Color of Courage ready for Saturday’s $250,000 Triple Bend Handicap at Hollywood Park, a race that may put Gonzalez and owner John Toffan back in racing’s spotlight.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Shackleford returned Tuesday morning to trainer Dale Romans at Churchill Downs following a brief respite at WinStar Farm. The 2011 Preakness winner was sent to the Versailles, Ky., farm after finishing fifth in the June 11 Belmont Stakes.
“He looks good, and they said he seemed to really enjoy his little vacation there,” said Romans.
The $1 million Haskell Invitational on July 31 at Monmouth Park remains “very much on target” for Shackleford, said Romans.
Leparoux back on top
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Garry Simms doesn’t ask why anymore. He just takes every day as it comes, and when something good happens – like it did Saturday at Churchill Downs, where the veteran trainer sent out Flashy Lassie to a 17-1 upset in the $109,300 Debutante Stakes – he just counts it as a blessing.
They don’t make ‘em like Honor Gulch any more.
A 9-year-old gelding, Honor Gulch will make career start No. 101 in Thursday’s eighth race at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif.
Longevity is a strong suit for Honor Gulch, who has won only two races and never lived up to his royal breeding.
Three stakes, each worth $50,000, will be held during the holiday weekend at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif.
Eight 3-year-olds will compete in Friday’s Livermore Valley Wines, a six-furlong sprint that has attracted the stakes winners Road Ready, Ain’t No Other, Mack’s Gold Bullet and Midnight Fiddle.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Chris Block was more than a little surprised to hear that he trains one of the fastest horses in the country, at least according to the initial Beyer Speed Figure assigned to Shrewd Operator for his win Saturday in the White Oak Handicap. Shrewd Operator’s nine-length win in the White Oak was clocked in 1:09.89 for six furlongs on a slow-playing Polytrack surface. That translated to a Beyer Figure of 114, the co-second highest figure recorded in 2011, and a pretty astounding number for a 7-year-old returning from a 10-month layoff.
