LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Some degree of normalcy returned to the Churchill Downs backstretch Friday morning after a Wednesday evening tornado ripped through portions of the backside, forcing the cancellation of training and racing Thursday.
The main track, having been cleared of debris from the storm, reopened, and the morning scene for training appeared as it would on most any day, with a few notable exceptions.
OCEANPORT, N.J. − A win by D’wild Ride in the $75,000 Blue Sparkler Stakes for filly and mare sprinters Sunday at Monmouth Park would be a get-well card for trainer Joe Orseno after his recent back surgery.
Orseno was moving about remarkably well Friday morning, only two weeks after undergoing a procedure to repair a herniated disc that impinged a nerve.
“They said the nerve was a little angry, but it will come back,” Orseno said.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – Separate Fire’s undefeated record ended after three races with a troubled third as a 1-20 favorite in a division of the Ed Burke Million Futurity trials at Los Alamitos on June 12.
Her final time of 17.50 seconds in that race was quick enough to earn a berth in Sunday’s $1,126,000 final over 350 yards at Los Alamitos, and temporarily keep another winning streak intact. A win in the Grade 1 Ed Burke would give Separate Fire a sweep of the two major early-season futurities, seven weeks after she won the Kindergarten Futurity on May 8.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – Separate Fire’s undefeated record ended after three races with a troubled third as a 1-20 favorite in a division of the Ed Burke Million Futurity trials at Los Alamitos on June 12.
Her final time of 17.50 seconds in that race was quick enough to earn a berth in Sunday’s $1,126,000 final over 350 yards at Los Alamitos, and temporarily keep another winning streak intact. A win in the Grade 1 Ed Burke would give Separate Fire a sweep of the two major early-season futurities, seven weeks after she won the Kindergarten Futurity on May 8.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The leading turf fillies Cozi Rosie and Malibu Pier had alibis when they performed below expectations in the Grade 1 Gamely Handicap last month at Hollywood Park.
Cozi Rosie finished third as the favorite; Malibu Pier was a dull fifth as second choice. They meet again Sunday in the Grade 3 Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park, a 1 1/14-mile turf race with ramifications that exceed the $100,000 purse.
“This is a pivotal race,” Malibu Pier’s trainer, Carla Gaines, admits. “We’re using this as a stepping-stone to get her back.”
Don’twaitforme is one work away from making his first start of the year, according to trainer Rob VanOverschot. The last time Don’twaitforme ran, he was an impressive winner over Cherokee Notion in the Richmond Derby Trial on Sept. 6. He would have been the favorite for the Grade 3, $200,000 British Columbia Derby, but he didn’t make the race.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Finding the fastest horse in Sunday’s fourth race at Churchill Downs, a $68,200 third-level allowance at a mile on turf, isn’t difficult. It is 6-5 morning line favorite Persuading, a filly who has run Beyer Speed Figures of 90 or higher in four grass races this year.
None of her opponents has run such a high number, with Sweetest Song having come closest, running a pair of 88 Beyer Figures on turf this spring.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Bob Tiller felt the full glare of the Queen’s Plate spotlight as the trainer of Win City, the enormously popular gelding who finished a close second as the odds-on favorite in the 2001 running of Canada’s most famous horse race.
But Tiller has been heading into this year’s $1 million Queen’s Plate with a much lower profile as the trainer of Oh Canada, who figures to be the fifth choice at probable double-digit odds in the field of 17.
