OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It may be wise for handicappers to wait as late as possible before seriously handicapping Wednesday’s featured eighth race at Aqueduct, because the complexion of the six-furlong race is likely to change at scratch time.
As drawn, the optional claiming race has seven entrants – six of whom are in for the $50,000 claiming tag – and appears to have plenty of speed. But with three trainers having multiple entrants, the race could lose some of its significant pace players.
The run-up to this year’s Kentucky Derby has been punctuated by a series of favorites being defeated in major prep races, defections of previously well-regarded horses, and some surprising additions.
Astrology, one of last year's top 2-year-olds, will skip the Kentucky Derby and make his next start on Saturday in the Grade 2 Jerome at Aqueduct, according to a press release sent out by his connections on Monday afternoon.
Astrology finished second in the Sunland Derby in his only start this year. He is owned by Jess Jackson and George Bolton.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A horse might look really good on paper, but before a horseplayer is willing to step in with confidence, he usually wants to know a thing or two about the trainer.
Enter Ronan Cunningham, the trainer of a fast 4-year-old filly named Well Deserved, who figures as the horse to catch when the featured eighth race is run Wednesday at Keeneland at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf. Cunningham, a 45-year-old native of Ireland, has won a grand total of one race in his training career, and that was in 1997 at Hollywood Park.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Daniel Coa, who is racing full time here at Tampa Bay Downs for the first time this season, won six races this past week, including three on Friday, and now has 32 winners for the meeting to move into the top 10 in the jockey standings.
Herson Sanchez, who handled Luis Garcia’s engagements this past winter, has taken over Coa’s book now that Garcia has moved his tack to Maryland. Garcia won 34 races in his first meeting at Tampa and made a favorable impression with a number of trainers.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Tyler Baze, who has not ridden since July when he suffered facial injuries in a pre-race accident at Del Mar, has been working horses at Turf Paradise in Phoenix this month, preparing for a return to riding in California this spring.
Baze said Sunday that he has not set a date for a return to riding. He said he may ride a few races at Turf Paradise and then return to Southern California. The Turf Paradise season runs through May 8.
“I’m getting fit,” Baze said. “I got cleared to get on horses.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – What a difference one loss makes. Instead of a backstretch throng to greet him following a police escort from the airport – the preferred treatment for a racing superstar – Uncle Mo was met by maybe a dozen cameramen and media members when arriving Monday at his Churchill Downs barn at precisely noon Eastern, about two hours behind schedule, in advance of the 137th Kentucky Derby
Jockey Robby Albarado will work Spiral Stakes winner Animal Kingdom on dirt Saturday at Churchill Downs, a drill that is expected to determine Animal Kingdom's status for the May 7 Kentucky Derby, Barry Irwin, the president of owner Team Valor International, said on Monday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Jockey Emile Ramsammy was resting at home on Monday after being involved in a frightening spill in Woodbine’s ninth race on Sunday.
Ramsammy, 48, was thrown forward and toward the inside when his mount, Harmony Lane, broke down when racing at the rear of the field in the opening quarter-mile. Harmony Lane then fell hard to the track, rolling right over the downed Ramsammy, who was stabilized and taken to hospital by attending ambulance personnel.
ARCADIA, Calif.- Approximately 2,000 racing fans took part in a fund-raising walk on Santa Anita’s main track after Sunday’s final day of the winter-spring meeting as part of a day of events that raised nearly $100,000 for the nearby City of Hope Cancer Center.
