Cyberknife and Taiba, separated by a head in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park, head a field of 11 3-year-olds entered Monday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx.
In addition to Cyberknife and Taiba, the field includes two additional Grade 1 winners - Zandon and White Abarrio.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The undefeated Fingal’s Cave, who was being considered for Saturday’s Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Racing, will pass that race and will now target one of two races on the Oct. 30 New York Showcase Day program, trainer David Donk said Monday.
Donk elected to bypass a workout over the weekend for Fingal’s Cave saying the 3-year-old New York-bred filly was “a little too dull” in her training.
With Flightline booked to have his next start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Keeneland, several runners who finished well behind him in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar earlier this month will have the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes to themselves on Oct. 1 at Santa Anita.
Country Grammer, second by 19 1/4 lengths in the Pacific Classic, worked a half-mile in 48.60 seconds on Sunday for the $300,000 Awesome Again. Royal Ship, third by 26 3/4 lengths in the Pacific Classic, went the same distance in 48.80, but is not a certain runner in the Awesome Again.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockey Vince Cheminaud is quietly making a name for himself while trying to emulate what his fellow Frenchmen have accomplished in the United States.
Cheminaud, 28, bagged three wins from the first four cards at this 14-day September meet, good for a tie for second in the standings behind countryman Julien Leparoux (four wins). Leparoux, Prat, and Florent Geroux all have enjoyed tremendous success in this country after emigrating from France.
Edgeway, winner of the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for the second consecutive year at Del Mar last month, will not race again until the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 5 at Keeneland, trainer John Sadler wrote in a text message over the weekend.
The BC Filly and Mare Sprint may be Edgeway’s final start for Hronis Racing. Kosta Hronis said in a text on Monday that Edgeway is entered to be sold at auction at Keeneland in the days after the Breeders’ Cup, but a decision on whether she goes through the sales ring will be made at the last minute.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hot Rod Charlie, the leading prospect for the Oct. 1 Lukas Classic at Churchill, has been on a steady work schedule.
Based at Keeneland since late June, the 4-year-old colt has breezed there the last five Saturdays for trainer Doug O’Neill, starting Aug. 20 and on through a six-furlong work in 1:12.80 last Saturday. Third in the Aug. 6 Whitney at Saratoga in his last start, Hot Rod Charlie will have a final pre-race work this coming Saturday. He has earned more than $5.25 million.
Average daily handle at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., during the track’s recently completed 60-day meet was up 14.8 percent compared to last year’s 55-day meet, according to figures generated by Daily Racing Form.
Total pari-mutuel handle for the meet was $218.5 million, a $44 million gain on the total handle last year, when $174.4 million was bet. Monmouth ran 606 races this year over a 60-day meet, compared to 555 races last year during a 55-day meet, and average handle per race was up 14.7 percent.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The final night card of the year at Churchill is set for Saturday when four stakes, all for 3-year-olds, anchor an 11-race program that starts at 6 p.m.
The Grade 3 Dogwood is the only graded event among the foursome. Last Leaf, already a four-time stakes winner this year and owned by the Monarch Stables of Frank Bertolino, was among the fillies expected for the seven-furlong race. Eddie Kenneally has assumed her training from Ron Spatz, for whom Last Leaf captured three Gulfstream Park stakes and the Aug. 14 Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park in her latest start.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Damon’s Mound exited the first defeat of his career in fine shape, with “any option on the table,” owner-breeder Cliff Love said in the aftermath of the Girvin colt finishing a tired sixth behind the victorious Curly Jack in the Iroquois Stakes here Saturday.
Damon’s Mound, trained by Michelle Lovell, was sensational in his first two wins. In the Iroquois, he and favored Echo Again led to the top of the stretch before both folded up, with Echo Again fading to seventh.
CYPRESS, Calif. - The Chosen Vron was a two-time winner in Grade 3 stakes as a 3-year-old in 2021, but he is unlikely to be tried in those sort of races in coming months.
After The Chosen Vron won Saturday’s $75,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes for California-bred milers at Los Alamitos, trainer and co-owner Eric Kruljac said the statebred division has greater appeal.
“The main thing is to keep him around as long as we can,” Kruljac said in the winner’s circle. “I don’t think we’ll try anything graded anytime soon.”
