HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Bill Mott confirmed Monday that 2010 Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer would not run in this year’s $10 million Dubai World Cup as originally planned.
Drosselmeyer, who worked a half-mile in 50 seconds at Payson Park on Monday, missed six days of training after contracting a mild temperature earlier this month, forcing Mott to scratch his horse out of the Mineshaft at Fair Grounds on Feb. 12.
Golden Springs pulled a 42-1 upset in the $50,000 Island Fashion for 3-year-old fillies on Sunday, when she edged Formal Plan by a nose in the race, which served as a prep for the $200,000 Sunland Park Oaks.
Golden Springs, who returned $86.40, raced close to the pace in the one-mile race and went on to cover the distance in 1:41.41. Kelsi Purcell rode the winner for trainer Joyce Salisbury, who on Saturday sent out 22-1 shot Behold de Buy to run second in the $100,000 Borderland Derby.
The Sunland Park Oaks will be run on March 27.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Quick Enough proved impossible to catch in Sunday’s $100,000 Sensational Star Handicap at Santa Anita after settling a slow pace in the first half of the race on the hillside turf course.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - All About Allie dueled for the lead to midstretch and then rebroke to win the
by 2 1/4 lengths at Oaklawn Park on Sunday, one day after her owner, Sanders Brothers, and her trainer, David Whited, took the $50,000 Rainbow with longshot Rattlesnake Holler.
The Rainbow races are both restricted to 3-year-olds bred in Arkansas.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has boosted the purse for the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap by $25,000, which will lift the total value to $125,000. The 1 1/16-mile race for 4-year-olds and up is to be run on March 12. It serves as a local prep for the Grade 2, $350,000 Oaklawn Handicap on April 9.
Earlier this meet, Oaklawn boosted overnight purses by approximately $10,000 a day. The track has lost eight programs this season due to inclement weather in January and February. Oaklawn also added a card, on April 13.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - As each successive split was posted on the timer during the running of Sunday’s $150,000 Canadian Turf at Gulfstream Park, it seemed the chances of pacesetter Little Mike winning the race was getting increasing smaller. But despite setting a lightning fast pace, Little Mike had more than enough left in the tank to register a 1 1/2-length victory over Society’s Chairman in the Grade 3 grass fixture.
Making her stakes debut, Five Grand Girl was a last-to-first winner of the $58,800 Patty’s Positive overnight stakes at Aqueduct Sunday.
Harmonious, a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2010, is being pointed for a return to the grass in the $150,000 Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita on March 19, following a third-place finish in the Grade 2 La Canada Stakes on the main track, trainer John Shirreffs said.
The Grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes is run over 1 1/8 miles on turf. Last year, Harmonious won the Grade 1 American Oaks at Hollywood Park and the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland, both on turf. Her last start came in the La Canada at Santa Anita on Feb. 13.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Twirling Candy will carry top weight of 122 pounds when he attempts to win his third consecutive stakes in Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap.
The winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes in track record time on Dec. 26, and the effortless winner of the Grade 2 Strub Stakes on Feb. 5, Twirling Candy will be a strong favorite in the Big Cap, which is run over 1 1/4 miles and is the top race for older horses in California in the first half of the year.
Kentucky Derby favorite Uncle Mo stepped up the pace a little more on Sunday morning, working five furlongs in 1:00.60 at Palm Meadows in company with Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Stay Thirsty.
With regular rider John Velazquez aboard, Uncle Mo posted splits of 24.60 and 36.80 for the opening three furlongs before shading 24 for the final quarter and galloping out six furlongs in 1:13, according to the Palm Meadows clocker.
