Zandon, runner-up to Taiba in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, will be pointed to the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 3, trainer Chad Brown said Saturday.
Brown’s initial feeling coming out of the Pennsylvania Derby was to put Zandon away and freshen him for a 4-year-old campaign. But upon further review, and in consultation with owner Jeff Drown, the decision was made to try cutting Zandon back to the one-turn mile.
Raging Sea will scratch from Sunday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes at Aqueduct and instead will run in the Grade 1, $500,000 Alcibiades next Friday at Keeneland, trainer Chad Brown said Saturday.
Brown said the combination of a likely wet track in New York on Sunday and the presence of several quality speed horses in the Frizette, a one-turn mile, made him call an audible.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Thomas Shelby scratched from Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct and will point to next Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh Stakes here, owner/trainer David Jacobson said Saturday.
Jacobson said he entered the Woodward to take a look and may have run if something the connections of Life Is Good had scratched, owing to the wet track.
Jacobson acquired Thomas Shelby earlier this summer and won an allowance race with the 6-year-old gelding in his first and only start for him.
ARCADIA, Calif. – It was only a five-furlong workout by a horse whose next start is still five weeks away, but as trainer John Sadler said Saturday morning at his Santa Anita barn, “It’s standard stuff with an exceptional horse.”
Flightline worked five furlongs after the 6:30 a.m. break Saturday at Santa Anita, where he cruised 1:00.40 under exercise rider/assistant trainer Juan Leyva.
One Timer, a 4 1/4-length winner of the $525,750 Franklin-Simpson Stakes on Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs, is getting a 45-day break in Florida and won’t contest the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, trainer Larry Rivelli said earlier this week.
One Timer was beaten only two lengths when ninth last fall in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar, but Rivelli said the 3-year-old is better at distances longer than the BC Turf Sprint’s 5 1/2 furlongs, and Rivelli isn’t eager to tackle the likes of Golden Pal in the Breeders’ Cup.
Veteran jockey Brice Blanc has retired from riding and began work as a racing official at Santa Anita this week.
Blanc, 49, rode his final race at Del Mar in late July and had his last win on Evening Sun in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields in April. He will work in Santa Anita’s racing office.
Blanc, who returned from a yearlong layoff caused by injury last October, had hoped to ride until his 50th birthday in January, but opted to cut short his riding career.
Assiniboia Downs wrapped up its 2022 meet on Wednesday night with the second-highest handle in the Manitoba track's history. There was $55,326,730 bet during the 50-day meet.
The final card attracted $2,448,634 in wagering. The highlight was a mandatory payout of the ASD Jackpot Pick 5 pool, which started with a $535,091 carryover. The total pool reached more than $2 million and returned $1,434 for $1.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Four years ago, trainer Uriah St. Lewis pulled off an improbable upset when Discreet Lover won the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at 45-1, beating the likes of Diversify, Mendelssohn and Thunder Road.
In 2019, St. Lewis won the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup at Parx with 50-1 Adventist. Last year, the St. Lewis-trained Informative won Monmouth Park’s Grade 3 Salvator Mile at 79-1. In August, Informative pulled another upset at Monmouth, taking the Grade 3 Iselin Stakes at odds of 14-1.
Forte, the Grade 1 Hopeful winner, was not entered in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes as expected, leaving the one-mile race for 2-year-olds a bit more wide open.
It was unclear why Forte was held out of the race. The Breeders’ Futurity, a two-turn race at Keeneland on Oct. 8, could be a back-up plan.
Without Forte in the race, favoritism figures to be up for grabs between Gulfport and Verifying.
