ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Urban Forester will step up in class off an authoritative maiden win Friday at Woodbine in the only non-claiming race on the card, a six-furlong allowance for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds.
Urban Forester was bet down to nearly 6-1 in his lone 2-year-old outing in September. After running prominently throughout the five-furlong dash, he wound up third, three-quarters of a length behind Calius and future stakes winner Citius.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A total of 22 horses were entered Wednesday morning in Saturday's 137th Kentucky Derby, according to the Churchill Downs communications department.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
Because a maximum of 20 horses are allowed to run in the Derby, two were excluded, based on graded stakes earnings. They are Sway Away and Ruler On Ice.
Newly acquired Perfect Officer foiled trainer Howie Wolfendale’s bid to win the closing-day feature at Atlantic City Race Course for the fourth straight time when he ran down defending champion Blue Sailor in deep stretch to take the $52,450 Tony Gatto Dream Big Stakes by a neck Tuesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There has been no more compelling story at this year’s Kentucky Derby than that of Mucho Macho Man, whose trainer Kathy Ritvo is a heart-transplant survivor and whose former rider, Eibar Coa, has made a remarkable recovery since being left temporarily paralyzed from a riding mishap at Gulfstream Park.
Jimmy Shircliff and Harvey Diamond were inspired one day when staring at a particularly historic part of the Churchill Downs architecture when they came up with a name for a horse they owned. A gray colt by Harlan’s Holiday became Twinspired.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If Unrivaled Belle is to record a repeat victory in the Grade, $300,000 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs, she will again have to defeat a Kentucky Oaks winner and reigning champion to do so.
Calibrachoa has not fully recovered from the bruised foot that knocked him out of last month’s Grade 1 Carter and thus will not enter Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Churchill Downs Stakes here. Trainer Todd Pletcher said Calibrachoa would point to the True North Handicap at Belmont Park on June 11.
St. John’s River will be trainer Andrew Leggio’s first Grade 1 starter since Happy Ticket when she runs Friday in the $1 million Kentucky Oaks. Leggio’s stable is based at Louisiana Downs, and back in 2006 he brought Happy Ticket to Churchill for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
It was the final start of her career, and Happy Ticket, who retired a Grade 1 winner of $1.6 million, ran third but was moved up to second via the disqualification of runner-up Asi Siempre.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Coming off a big effort out of the main track chute at Aqueduct in the same condition, Opus A figures to be favored against four other 4-year-old fillies in Thursday’s second-level optional $50,000 claiming feature at Belmont Park.
