BALTIMORE – No telling whether her effort would have been good enough for her to be competitive two weeks beforehand in the Kentucky Oaks, but a clear-cut victory in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes was satisfaction enough Friday at Pimlico for the connections of Royal Delta.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After working a half-mile in 49.80 seconds Friday at Churchill Downs, Santiva appears on track to start in the Belmont Stakes on June 11, trainer Eddie Kenneally said.
The move was little more than a maintenance breeze, coming less than two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, a race in which he closed from midpack to be sixth, beaten 5 1/2 lengths.
Having had a couple weeks to reflect on Santiva’s Derby performance, Kenneally said he was pleased.
As methodical a planner as trainer Todd Pletcher is, Friday’s Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico wasn’t on the original schedule for his tall, rangy 3-year-old filly R Holiday Mood.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Former Kentucky Derby candidate Anthony’s Cross finally recovered from a nagging setback and is expected to resume a regular work pattern late next week.
Anthony’s Cross emerged as a top 3-year-old in February at Santa Anita. He won the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis, then finished fifth in the Santa Anita Derby, a slow-pace race in which he fell too far back to make an impact. Trainer Eoin Harty still hoped to start him in the Kentucky Derby, though Anthony’s Cross had only $182,000 in graded earnings,
A week before the Derby, Harty pulled the plug.
BALTIMORE – Patti Cooksey remembers what the day was like when she became the first of just two women ever to ride in the Preakness.
“I was in there pretty much all alone,” Cooksey said, nodding toward the female jockeys’ quarters adjacent to the Pimlico Race Course indoor paddock. “There was a little TV in there. It was smaller than it is now that they’ve expanded it. I just kind of hung out by myself waiting to ride.”
Even though she finished sixth aboard longshot Tajawa later that afternoon in May 1985, Cooksey had established a legacy.
Preakness Day live updates and analysis. Video from Daily Racing Form's national handicapper, Mike Watchmaker, and other DRF reporters at Pimlico for Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
PREAKNESS STAKES 2011: Complete order of finish | Watch Preakness replay »
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – She will be making her first start in a new barn, but if Peyote Patty is the same horse this year as in 2010, she can win the featured sixth race on Sunday at Arlington.
Peyote Patty is one of six horses in the main body of a third-level allowance also open to $80,000 claimers. The race is carded for one mile on turf, with two more horses entered to run only on the main track.
MIAMI – Ten months ago, trainer Marty Wolfson sent out the first four finishers in Calder’s Ema Bovary Stakes. On Sunday, he’ll attempt to repeat the relatively unique feat when sending out four of the seven starters in the 5 1/2-furlong overnight stakes for fillies and mares that serves as a prep for the $75,000 U Can Do It Handicap on the June 11 Summit Preview card.
Flat Out, a stakes winner who won a $40,000 optional claiming allowance route at Fair Grounds in his last start Dec. 5, has been training forwardly at Churchill Downs and is being considered for a start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap on May 30, said his trainer, Charles “Scooter” Dickey.
“He’s doing real good, and we’re looking for a race for him,” Dickey said Friday. “We nominated him to the Met Mile and the Lone Star Handicap, and we’re going to look the nominations over.”
The Grade 1, $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap is also May 30, at Belmont Park.
Star Guitar has been training “along steadily” at his Louisiana Downs base, biding his time as he awaits his two major objectives this summer. The first comes July 2. Trainer Al Stall Jr. said Star Guitar is targeting the $100,000 Louisiana Showcase Classic at Evangeline Downs. From there, Star Guitar could run in the $125,000 Evangeline Mile on Aug. 13.
“We’re pointing for the two upcoming races at Evangeline Downs,” Stall said Friday.
