Bench Points, third in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes in his graded stakes debut on March 12, is expected to return in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9, trainer Tim Yakteen said.
In the San Felipe over 1 1/16 miles, Bench Points closed from eighth to finish nine lengths behind Premier Pegasus, who finished 7 3/4 lengths clear of runner-up Jaycito. For Bench Points, the champion California-bred 2-year-old colt of 2010, the San Felipe was his first loss in five starts.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. − Native Ruler showed class and guts when he forged to a neck win in the $50,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn on Jan. 29. The race was his first in five months, and he has reason to take a significant step forward Sunday, when he returns in the $75,000 Hot Springs.
The field for the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby on March 27 was beginning to come together on Friday, with Astrology and Supreme Ruler committing to the 1 1/8-mile race and Nacho Saint and Ruler On Ice settled in after shipping from New York.
The Sunland Derby is the richest race of the meet and part of a program of six stakes worth a cumulative $1.4 million. There were 224 nominations to the race. Other stakes on the Sunland Derby card will include the $200,000 Sunland Park Oaks and the $100,000 Harry Henson.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. − When Doodnauth Shivmangal won two races on Wednesday’s Aqueduct card, it seemed like it could have been a career highlight for an obscure trainer trying to make it on the difficult New York Racing Association circuit.
For Shivmangal, it was reminiscent of another place and another time. In the 1980s, Shivmangal had Guyana Star racing in his native Guyana, a South American country the size of Idaho.
“He won four races in two days with 140 pounds,” Shivmangal, 58, said. “I won 52 races with him in my country.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – The long-distance turf series continues Sunday at Santa Anita, where the heavyweights of the division are missing from the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes.
No complaints from trainer Ray Bell, who recognizes the absence of California’s top turf horses – Champ Pegasus and Bourbon Bay shipped to Dubai – has elevated Juniper Pass from marginal longshot to major contender in the 1 1/2-mile San Luis Rey.
“The last thing I wanted to do was take on Bourbon Bay and Champ Pegasus again,” Bell said.
Miss Match and Switch, the first two finishers of the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational on March 13, may meet again in the $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 15.
Trainer Neil Drysdale said that Miss Match, who scored a 45-1 upset over 4-5 favorite Switch, will be considered for the Apple Blossom or the $200,000 Sixty Sails Handicap at Hawthorne on April 16.
Switch returned to racetrack training at Santa Anita on Friday, trainer John Sadler said. Sadler described the Apple Blossom “as a possibility.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –Uncle Mo isn’t the only undefeated 3-year-old whose status for the $1 million Florida Derby still remains up in the air but whose presence would have a major impact on the race. The other is the speedy Flashpoint, sensational winner of the seven-furlong Hutcheson at Gulfstream last month and the one to catch if his connections opt to stretch him to 1 1/8 miles for the first time in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.
ARCADIA, Calif.– Rigoletta, the winner of the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes at Hollywood Park last fall, has been retired because of a tendon injury and will be bred this spring in Kentucky, trainer Dan Hendricks said.
Rigoletta was diagnosed with the injury after finishing sixth in the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 12. Owned by Thor-Bred Stable, Rigoletta was not sent back to Hendricks’s base at Santa Anita, but to Kentucky. Stallion plans had not been finalized as of Friday, Hendricks said.
Premier Pegasus rocketed to the top of the Santa Anita Derby rankings list after an authoritative triumph March 12 in the Grade 2 San Felipe. Stretching out following a sharp third-place comeback behind The Factor and Sway Away in a seven-furlong sprint, Premier Pegasus went long for the first time and drew off by 7 3/4 lengths in the 1 1/16-mile race. His time was 1:41.23; he earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure.
A couple of 5-year-old mares trying something a little different are part of an intriguing makeup of the ninth-race feature Sunday at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, where an 11-race card includes three allowance races.
Little Polka Dot, trained by Tom Amoss, will be turning back from distance events to try 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf in the feature, while Five Star Fun, trained by Al Stall Jr., will rise in class after winning back-to-back races as an odds-on favorite in conditioned-claiming company.
