HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.- Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is hoping history will repeat itself after Soldat drew post 1 in a field of eight 3-year-olds entered Thursday for Sunday’s $1 million Florida Derby.
Soldat was made the 9-5 morning line favorite for the Grade 1 Florida Derby off his two-length victory five weeks earlier in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth - a race he won after breaking from post 1. He’ll be ridden again on Sunday by Alan Garcia.
Fly Down, who finished a troubled 13th in the Dubai World Cup last Saturday, is staying in the Middle East for the time being, and it is uncertain whether he will return to the United States later this year.
Trainer Nick Zito said Prince Mitab bin Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who purchased Fly Down last year during his 3-year-old campaign, was “very upset” after the World Cup.
“For now, he’s just taking him home with him to his retreat in the mountains and nothing has been decided as to when or where he might race next,” Zito said.
GROVE CITY, Ohio – Trainer Tim Hamm sends out four of the nine 3-year-old fillies, including the clear-cut choice Startin Something, in the $50,000 Royal North at Beulah Park on Saturday. The Royal North is the first stakes for Ohio-breds this season.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – J P’s Gusto donned blinkers for a Thursday workout at Oaklawn Park and after he breezed five furlongs in a bullet 58.60 seconds his trainer, Joe Petalino, said he would add the equipment for his next start. Thursday afternoon Petalino confirmed J P's Gusto's next race will be the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 16.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Woodbine Entertainment Group’s Thoroughbred racing business had been going against the flow in recent years, with purses holding steady and all-sources handle on live Thoroughbred racing on the rise.
So, after it was reported that business had been up by 8.9 percent for last year’s meeting, there was some surprise when it was learned that purses have been reduced by an overall average of some 2 percent for this year’s 167-day session, which begins on Saturday.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – The $75,000 Turf Dash at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 19 has already has had three of its starters come back and run bang-up races in their next starts. On Saturday, two more runners from that field look poised for big efforts in Saturday’s $30,000 overnight handicap feature at about five furlongs over the turf course.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Eurico Rosa da Silva wasn’t content to stand pat after recording his first Woodbine riding title at the 2010 meeting. Da Silva, 35, already was en route to Aqueduct for a winter campaign when he sat out the final day of the meeting with a suspension.
Now, after fashioning a record of 11-24-11 from 100 Aqueduct mounts, Da Silva is back at Woodbine with positive feelings about his New York experience.
Opportunity is knocking for eight Maryland-bred fillies and mares in Saturday’s $50,000 Shine Again, a race restricted to statebreds who have never won a stakes. The first stakes of the Pimlico meet, the race is also a rare chance for the trainers with the three fastest horses in the Shine Again lineup to cash in a stakes event.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Fonner Park canceled its live program for Friday on Thursday morning due to concerns over the racing surface.
The track endured a heavy, wet snow last weekend and was listed as muddy for both last Friday and Saturday cards. On Sunday, racing was canceled after the first race when the riders elected not to continue because of the track condition.
PHOENIX – Saturday’s $25,000 Wildcat Handicap at Turf Paradise gives All Saint the chance to do a couple of things. First, it gives the three-time stakes winners this meet a chance to clinch horse of the meet honors. The 1 3/8-mile turf event also gives him a chance to show his versatility as it represents the farthest he’s ever gone and an attempt to improve upon his 1-for-4 turf mark.
