OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Balboa, third in the Grade 2 Remsen in December, and runner-up in the Jerome in January, will make a return visit to Aqueduct on Feb. 28 for the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes, trainer Brittany Russell said Wednesday.
Balboa is entered in Saturday’s Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park but will scratch.
Russell said a Thursday workout at Laurel still has to be gotten through but barring something unforeseen there, the Gotham is the plan for Balboa.
Hit Show eked out a victory Saturday over pacesetting Accelerize in the Mineshaft Stakes, his raw time of 1:42.49 for 1 1/16 miles producing a modest 92 Beyer Speed Figure. But the Mineshaft served as a mere means to an end, that being a return to the Dubai World Cup, which Hit Show upset in April.
Florent Geroux urged Hit Show out of the gate Saturday, and the horse raced much closer to the pace than usual, a tactical adjustment required by what many viewed as an inside-biased racing surface.
An untimely fever kept Magnitude from shipping to last weekend’s Saudi Cup, a change in schedule that keeps him following directly in the hoofprints of a famed predecessor.
Gun Runner, like Magnitude, was trained by Steve Asmussen for Ron Winchell’s Winchell Thoroughbreds. During his 3-year-old season, Gun Runner finished a distant third in the Travers, a much closer second in the Pennsylvania Derby, and capped his campaign beating older horses in the Clark Stakes.
Racing will begin at 2 p.m. Pacific on most days of the Del Mar summer meeting later this year, the track announced on Wednesday.
The decision ends a decades-long tradition of starting Friday programs at 3:30 p.m. or 4 p.m. The late afternoon Friday programs accommodated post-race concerts, which were discontinued several years ago, and allowed people to attend races into the early evening.
The two-time stakes winner Stark Contrast will miss Sunday’s $100,000 Pasadena Stakes because of a bruised foot and is likely to start in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park on March 21.
The $777,000 Jeff Ruby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles will be the first start on a synthetic track for Stark Contrast, who has won 3 of 5 starts. All his wins have been on turf. In his only loss on the surface, Stark Contrast was second by three-quarters of a length at 58-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on Oct. 31.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – In a racing anomaly Sunday at Oaklawn Park, Publisher pushed his career earnings past $550,000 when he won a maiden special weight. He always looked like a winner in the 1 1/16-mile race, and after stalking the leaders, opened up on the field in the stretch for a 5 3/4-length victory.
The win came in the 13th career start for Publisher, who earned a spot in last year’s Kentucky Derby after running fourth in the Rebel and second in the Arkansas Derby. For his maiden win, the 4-year-old earned a 90 Beyer.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Soldier N Diplomat, who opened his 3-year-old season with a runner-up finish in the Southwest at Oaklawn, is scheduled to make his next start in the track’s Rebel, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday.
The Grade 2, $1 million race, which will be run over 1 1/16 miles, is March 1.
Solider N Diplomat breezed Monday at Oaklawn, going five furlongs on a track rated good in 1:01.60.
“He’s training well, is on target for the Rebel,” Asmussen said.
Two California-breds are Kentucky Derby-dreaming following last Sunday’s $500,000 Sunland Park Derby.
Pavlovian and Express Kid, who finished a nose apart in the race, have both emerged from the Sunland Derby in good order and are bound for another Kentucky Derby points race, their respective trainers, Doug O’Neill and Justin Evans, said Monday.
Pavlovian picked up 20 points for his win at Sunland and sits ninth on the Kentucky Derby standings list administered by Churchill Downs. He was to arrive back at his Santa Anita base Wednesday, according to O’Neill.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – White Abarrio has a spring race objective of the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Monday. The 1 1/8-mile fixture will be run April 18.
White Abarrio is a $7.7 million earner based in South Florida. He launched his 7-year-old season last month with a runner-up finish in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park.
