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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – For a filly who won a Grade 1 race and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at 2, R Heat Lightning was still a bit underappreciated entering her 3-year-old season.
That changed on Feb. 26, when R Heat Lightning rolled to a decisive 7 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes, beating the highly-regarded Dancinginherdreams in the process.
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – As good a year as Unrivaled Belle had in 2010, imagine how good it could have been had she not had to run against horses trained by Todd Pletcher.
Pletcher-trained fillies and mares handed Unrivaled Belle three of her four losses last year, though Unrivaled Belle beat both Life At Ten and Malibu Prayer when it mattered most in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic last Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.
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ARCADIA, Calif. – The presence of Gilded Gem, Mother Ruth, and Subsidized give Bob Baffert half the starters in Saturday’s $100,000 Las Flores Stakes for female sprinters at Santa Anita.
That has not led to overwhelming confidence from the Hall of Fame trainer.
“I’ve got to beat” Broken Dreams, Baffert said.
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – With a purse slashed 50 percent for its 99th running, the $100,000 Excelsior at Aqueduct on Saturday could easily be mistaken by handicappers as just another overnight stakes of winter.
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.
