Wed, 04/06/2011 - 12:51

Woodbine: Fatal Bullet cranking up for 2011 campaign

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Fatal Bullet wintered at Palm Meadows and accompanied Reade Baker-trained stablemate Biofuel on her journey north.

A 6-year-old gelding who races for the Bear Stable of Danny Dion, whose nickname is Bear, Fatal Bullet was Canada’s champion sprinter and Horse of the Year in 2009 but failed to find the range last year while running second once and third five times in six starts. In his last outing, which came here on Nov. 20, Fatal Bullet was beaten 1 1/4 lengths when third in the Grade 3, six-furlong Kennedy Road.

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 12:45

Santa Anita Derby: Smith, Shirreffs team again with Mr. Commons

Shigeki Kikkawa
Mr. Commons, with jockey Mike Smith up, wins an allowance race on Feb. 26 at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mike Smith says that the Kentucky Derby can weigh on a rider’s mind each spring.

“I don’t know when you want it the most – after you’ve won it once or if you’ve never won it,” he said on a recent morning at Santa Anita. “When you’ve won it, you want to win it again. You can imagine all you want, but until you do it . . . It feels like it’s a life changer.”

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 12:32

Biofuel's Woodbine appearances figure to be rare this year

Michael Burns
The goals for Biofuel this year are to win a Grade 1 race and to run in the Breeders' Cup.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Biofuel was honored here on April 1 as Canada’s Horse of the Year and outstanding 3-year-old filly for 2010. But the chances of Biofuel repeating as a Sovereign Award winner are slim, as the stakes program here for older fillies and mares at Woodbine is very light in two-turn races on the main track.

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 12:25

Keeneland, Kentucky Derby the next frontier for Rosie Napravnik

Barbara D. Livingston
Rosie Napravnik will be just the sixth female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rosie Napravnik was supposed to make a 10-hour drive from Delaware to Keeneland on Tuesday, but a nasty case of food poisoning delayed the trip by a day.

“It was horrible,” said Napravnik. “Four of us went to our favorite restaurant near Delaware Park [Monday night], and I had what everybody else had, except for the salad dressing. I was the only one who got sick, so I guess that was it.”

LIVE VIDEO: Watch Keeneland's opening day on DRF.com

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 11:45

Wood Memorial: Uncle Mo arrives in New York

Twenty-four hours later than scheduled, but none the worse for wear, undefeated champion Uncle Mo arrived in New York at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday morning for his engagement in Saturday’s $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

Uncle Mo arrived from south Florida on a Tex Sutton flight that had been delayed one day due to weather concerns.

"He shipped in really well and everything went smoothly," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "Im glad we waited the extra day and let the weather clear up. We had an uneventful trip."

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 09:53

S. S. Stone, Skip Away winner, sidelined with leg fracture

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.- S. S. Stone, who rose from the claiming ranks this winter to capture Sunday’s Grade 3 Skip Away at Gulfstream Park, will be sidelined indefinitely after exiting the race with a small fracture in his left cannon bone, trainer Nick Zito reported on Wednesday.

Tue, 04/05/2011 - 21:35

Arkansas Derby: Valenzuela will ride Sway Away

Patrick Valenzuela will ride Sway Away in the Arkansas Derby, trainer Jeff Bonde said Monday. The horse, who was the runner-up to The Factor in the Grade 2 San Vicente at Santa Anita in February, finished a troubled sixth last out in the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel at Oaklawn. (The Factor won the race and on Monday worked six furlongs in 1:11.40 at Santa Anita.)

Tue, 04/05/2011 - 21:02

Churchill Downs plans concert series

Churchill Downs announced Tuesday that the track will host postrace concerts following twilight Friday cards at the spring meet for five straight weeks following the May 7 Kentucky Derby before getting into its nighttime programs.

First post for the twilight Fridays will be 2:45 p.m., with the last race going at about 8 and the concerts following shortly thereafter. Those dates are May 13, 20, and 27 and June 3-10.

Tue, 04/05/2011 - 18:13

Aqueduct feature a rematch for Katskill Bay and Fiery Footwork

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Katskill Bay and Fiery Footwork, who finished a neck apart when second and third behind stakes-bound 3-year-old Dr Disco in a similar spot St. Patrick's Day, are among a handful of contenders in Thursday's $42,000 optional claiming feature at Aqueduct, which is for New York-breds at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Coming off a determined finish to edge Fiery Footwork for second, Katskill Bay may have the right running style to overtake a hotly contested pace.

Tue, 04/05/2011 - 17:19

Kensei seeks Grade 1 in Carter at Aqueduct

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Kensei, winning the 2009 Jim Dandy at Saratoga, is a contender in Saturday's Carter Handicap.

Kensei, who owns graded stakes at Belmont and Saratoga, will try to complete a trifecta of sorts when he runs in the Grade 1 Carter at Aqueduct on Saturday.

Owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stable and Jerry Bailey and Lance Robinson’s Gulf Coast Farms, Kensei comes off a second-place finish to Misremembered in the Santana Mile at Santa Anita on March 6.

“I was very pleased with it,’’ trainer Steve Asmussen said. “The race was pretty quick early, it wasn’t a smooth trip early for him, but he put in a good run, got a lot out of it and has worked incredible since.’’