Managing 2-year-old Quarter Horses at this time of year can sometimes be tricky.
This spring, Adan Farias has 36 2-year-olds in his 94 horse stable at Los Alamitos. Deciding which of those youngsters belong in early season futurities, such as the Kindergarten Futurity trials at Los Alamitos on May 8, and which should be held out in favor of the next major race, the Ed Burke Million Futurity in June, can be difficult.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Miss Lola and Miss Taggart could both crack the top three in Friday’s eighth race at Woodbine, a first-level allowance for fillies and mares going seven furlongs.
Miss Lola did the bulk of her best running last spring, when she won her maiden following a five-month layoff, earning a 72 Beyer Figure in the seven-furlong sprint. In her next appearance June 13, she closed for fifth in the Alywow Stakes on the grass, finishing just two lengths behind victorious Somme.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Handicapping the Louisville weather isn’t quite as difficult as picking the Derby superfecta, but it can fool anybody at any time. Kathy Ritvo was second-guessing herself in mid-morning Wednesday as rain pelted the roof of Barn 41, albeit not quite as hard as earlier, when she went ahead and sent her Derby prospect, Mucho Macho Man, out for a two-mile gallop around 7 a.m.
“I thought I’d get him out before it got any worse,” Ritvo said. “But I do feel bad when I can’t show him off at 8:30.”
Rusty Arnold will have seven chances to extend what has been a remarkable record of consistency and longevity at Keeneland in Lexington. Winless from his first 16 starters at the spring meet, Arnold has two scheduled starters on Wednesday, one on Thursday, and four on Friday.
According to Keeneland officials, Arnold, 56, has saddled at least one winner at every meet here since 1986, with the exception of one meet in the late 1980s when he did not start a horse.
The likely starting field for the May 7 Kentucky Derby came into sharper focus Tuesday when Uncle Mo, the heavy Derby favorite until his loss in the Wood Memorial, had an encouraging workout at Churchill Downs, and the connections of both J P’s Gusto and The Factor finally made official what had long been expected, that neither would participate.
Suffolk Downs officials on Tuesday announced a 2011 racing schedule comprised largely of three-day racing weeks with plans to card 80 programs and offer more than $103,000 in daily purses at the East Boston, Mass., track.
The 76-year-old facility will open May 21, Preakness Day, then run Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays through Nov. 5 to coincide with the Breeders’ Cup. The track will also race Friday, Nov. 4, and at least six other dates will be scheduled later in the summer and fall.
Atlantic City Race Course in New Jersey is scheduled to open on Thursday for a brief six-day meet, highlighted by the possible start of Eldaafer, the winner of the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Marathon, in a Saturday allowance race.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Thiskyhasnolimit established himself as Lone Star Park’s top handicap horse last weekend, when he overcame a wide trip to catch Southern California invader Gladding and win the Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile. For the half-length score, Thiskyhasnolimit earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 103.
“I was very proud of him, thought he ran great,” said Steve Asmussen, who trains Thiskyhasnolimit.
“He picked a good day to do it.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. – At her lofty level, they don’t come much more consistent than Keertana. While competing primarily in stakes, the 5-year-old mare has been third or better in 20 of 24 starts while amassing nearly $825,000 in earnings and ringing up Beyer Speed Figures in the 90s one after another.
Great training job by Tom Proctor, right?
“What most people don’t realize about training horses,” said Proctor, “is it’s the horse. That’s all a tribute to what a nice mare she is.”
