ELMONT, N.Y. – John Kimmel came to work Monday morning and found a pleasant note from his night watchman as it pertained to the trainer’s 4-year-old colt Friend Or Foe.
“The chart from the night watchman said ‘He ate everything,’ ” Kimmel said Monday morning. “I don’t know if I believe him, but that’s what it said.”
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – A handicapper can find all sorts of angles in the featured sixth race Wednesday at Arlington, a highly competitive third-level allowance race carded for one mile on Polytrack also open to $80,000 claimers.
Best last-race Beyer Speed Figure? That easily belongs to Saint Leon, whose 103 figure from a sharp May 3 Arlington sprint victory is a stakes-quality number.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Animal Kingdom was first in the Kentucky Derby, then second in the Preakness Stakes, and judging by the way he worked and looked on Monday morning here at Belmont Park, he has retained all his edge and fitness heading into the 143rd Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Finding the right spot for the 4-year-old filly Rose Catherine has proven to be more of a difficult chore than trainer Todd Pletcher anticipated.
In her last four starts, Rose Catherine has raced against males twice, had a race rained off the turf, and then caught a bog of a turf course at Pimlico.
“It’s been one less-than-ideal circumstance after another,” Pletcher said.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The last three winners of the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks have gone on to run, and run well, in the 1 1/4-mile Queen’s Plate.
Ginger Brew and Milwaukee Appeal won the 2008 and 2009 runnings of the Woodbine Oaks, with Ginger Brew returning to finish second in the Queen’s Plate and Milwaukee Appeal a tight third.
Supporting the trend, Woodbine adjusted its stakes schedule last year and moved the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks up one week, giving the fillies an extra week to get to the Queen’s Plate.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Roger Attfield took a giant step toward what could be a record ninth Queen’s Plate victory last Sunday when he sent out Check Your Soul for a convincing 3 1/4-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial.
Five of Attfield’s seven previous Plate Trial victors went on to double up in the 1 1/4-mile Queen’s Plate, with the most recent being Not Bourbon in 2008.
And while Check Your Soul would appear to be in a very good position to go down that road, he entered his sophomore campaign as an unknown and his rise has been little short of meteoric.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Baganara bypassed this past Sunday’s Woodbine Oaks in favor of Wednesday’s fourth race, an Ontario-sired allowance for nonwinners of three, which is scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass.
Baganara made quite a splash when she debuted in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special in November. She rallied strongly in that restricted event to win by four lengths in 1:47.08, a time that earned her a Beyer Speed Figure of 53.
Sin Toro will be gunning for his fourth straight win when he runs in a $10,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up that will serve as Wednesday’s feature at Northlands Park. The six-furlong sprint drew eight horses and will go as race 7 on the eight-race card that begins at 6 p.m. Mountain.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Animal Kingdom, the Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes runner-up, completed his preparations for Saturday's Belmont Stakes with a four-furlong work in 47.79 seconds on Monday morning at Belmont Park. His regular rider, John Velazquez, was aboard for the drill, which occurred shortly after the track reopened following the renovation break at 8:50 a.m. Eastern.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Nehro, the second-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, completed his preparation for Saturday's Belmont Stakes with a four-furlong drill in 50.85 seconds early Monday morning at Belmont Park.
Nehro came onto the track about 6:45 a.m. and, accompanied by a pony, jogged the wrong way from an area near the 1 1/4-mile start to the finish line of the 1 1/2-mile oval.
