Tue, 03/08/2011 - 15:54

Turbulent Descent will shorten up

Benoit & Associates
Turbulent Descent, David Flores up, wins the Santa Anita Oaks.

Turbulent Descent’s win in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks last Saturday will be her last start around two turns for the foreseeable future. Trainer Mike Puype has the $150,000 Beaumont Stakes over about seven furlongs at Keeneland on April 17 as a potential next start for Turbulent Descent, who will be pointed to the major stakes for 3-year-old fillies in New York this summer.

Puype said he would solidify plans after talking with Scott Sherwood of Blinkers On Racing, part of the partnership that owns Turbulent Descent.

Tue, 03/08/2011 - 15:49

Caracortado may try Royal Ascot

ARCADIA, Calif. - Caracortado, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on Saturday, may have an international campaign this spring.

Trainer and co-owner Mike Machowsky said Caracortado may start in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes over six furlongs on turf at Royal Ascot in England on June 18, a race worth approximately $650,000.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Machowsky said.

Machowsky mentioned the $300,000 Maker’s Mark Mile on turf on April 15 as a potential prep.

Tue, 03/08/2011 - 15:37

San Felipe to be major test for Awesome Patriot

Benoit & Associates
Awesome Patriot (right), Rafael Bejarano up, wins a Dec. 29 Hollywood Park allowance.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Terry Lanni has been a horse owner for nearly five decades, won a Breeders’ Cup race with Silic in 1999 and has trophies several other major stakes.

Tue, 03/08/2011 - 15:15

Gulfstream sees Mobilizer's return to action

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mobilizer, whose only poor performance in five career starts came on the biggest day of his career in the prestigious Queen’s Plate, tries grass for the first time when he returns from an eight-month layoff in Thursday’s $55,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.

Tue, 03/08/2011 - 14:45

Santa Anita: Dubai You X Y Z continues to step up

ARCADIA, Calif. – When entries were published Sunday for Thursday at Santa Anita, Dubai You X Y Z faced a formidable challenge in the optional claimer over 1 1/8 miles on turf, the day’s fifth race.

As the race draws closer, his job is getting easier.

Hyades, who finished third in the Grade 2 American Handicap and fifth in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes last summer, will miss Thursday’s race, which would have been his first start in more than seven months, because of illness, trainer Ben Cecil said Tuesday.

Tue, 03/08/2011 - 14:23

Dubai World Cup may be next for Game On Dude

Shigeki Kikkawa
Game On Dude, Chantal Sutherland aboard after his Big Cap victory, will be sent to Dubai for the World Cup. Sutherland will be aboard for the $10 million race.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap last Saturday was the richest victory of Game On Dude’s career, but trainer Bob Baffert has his sights set on an even bigger prize.

On Tuesday, Baffert said he wants to start Game On Dude in the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 26 – if he can gain a berth.

Baffert was in contact Tuesday with Dubai World Cup representatives who have told him that Game On Dude is not a certain starter. The race has a maximum field of 14 starters.

Tue, 03/08/2011 - 14:06

Positive Response provides boost to Golden Gate 3-year-olds

Patrick Lang/Lang Photography
Positive Response scores a wire-to-wire win in the Battaglia Memorial.

Although Golden Gate Fields is stuck in the middle of a two-month period without stakes racing, the 3-year-old ranks here received a boost from a race halfway across the country. Locally based Positive Response scored a seven-length, wire-to-wire victory in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park as the 2-1 favorite Saturday.

Tue, 03/08/2011 - 12:42

Havre de Grace sharp in work for Azeri start

Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
Havre de Grace, Jeremy Rose up, wins the Fitz Dixon Cotillion.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Havre de Grace looked every bit the part of one of the nation's top fillies on Tuesday morning, when she breezed five furlongs in a bullet 59.40 seconds at Oaklawn Park. It was her final serious prep for the Grade 3, $150,000 Azeri here March 19.

Mon, 03/07/2011 - 15:57

Aqueduct's outside post should help Saginaw

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – An outside post going two turns on Aqueduct’s inner track may not be ideal for most horses, but it may prove to be just what Saginaw needs when he runs in Wednesday’s first-level allowance feature going a mile.

Mon, 03/07/2011 - 15:48

Uncle Mo's return effort will play big role in Wood Memorial lineup

Barbara D. Livingston
Stay Thirsty, winner of the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, is unlikely to return to New York for the Wood Memorial.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Along with everybody else, the New York Racing Association’s racing department will be paying close attention to what Uncle Mo does this weekend, wherever he makes his 3-year-old debut.