ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita continues to conduct maintenance on its main track, adding sand after racing last Sunday and again Thursday afternoon.
Track officials are considering closing the main track Tuesday for a day of maintenance to mix material on the outside and inside of the surface and improve the blend of sand, clay, and silt.
As of midday Friday, there were no definitive plans to close the track for training on Tuesday, according to a track spokesman.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Bob Baffert may have two runners for the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 5 in Thursday winners Mythical Power and Game On Dude.
Both horses returned from layoffs to win optional claimers. Mythical Power won a seven-furlong race by 1 1/4 lengths in a quick 1:20.12, his first start since October. Last spring, Mythical Power won the Grade 3 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Yankee Passion is likely headed to the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest at Oaklawn Park following his flashy seasonal debut win at the track on Thursday. He won a six-furlong allowance in a rapid 1:10.88 in his first start since August, and for the effort he earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 79.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to point him to the Southwest,” said Larry Jones, who trains Yankee Passion.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Tyler Baze, who has not ridden since July after suffering facial injuries in an accident at Del Mar, is hoping to return to riding in late February or early March after undergoing surgery to improve his vision on Jan. 19.
Baze said Thursday that the recent surgery inserted a plate to an area near the orbital bone of his right eye, which has been troubled by double vision when he looks up.
Rogue Romance is among the top male 3-year-old prospects in Florida this winter, and Kathmanblu is one of the best 3-year-old fillies there, but both horses are likely to ship to Fair Grounds for their first dirt start of 2011, trainer Ken McPeek said Thursday. McPeek has penciled in Rogue Romance for the Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 19, and Kathmanblu is tentatively being pointed to the Rachel Alexandra, formerly called the Silverbulletday, on the same program.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It’s Tricky handled the snow so well winning a first-level allowance race here Wednesday that her connections plan on leaving her in New York for the remainder of the winter, targeting a pair of stakes for the 3-year-old filly.
After winning her debut sprinting by 1 3/4 lengths on Nov. 28, It’s Tricky successfully stretched out around two turns, winning an allowance race by 4 3/4 lengths. It’s Tricky ran a mile and 70 yards in 1:44.59 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 84, equaling the number she earned for her debut victory.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The impressive debut winner Hearts On Fire will get a litmus test Sunday at Oaklawn Park when she takes on Fair Grounds shipper Switching Gears and the Larry Jones-trained entry of Summer Soiree and Raised With Pride in a first-level allowance.
The race for 3-year-old fillies will be run over 1 1/16 miles and could produce starters for one of two local stakes, the $75,000 Martha Washington on Feb. 12 or the Grade 3, $125,000 Honeybee on March 12.
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ARCADIA, Calif. – The winter stakes schedule at Santa Anita laid out perfectly for Switch – two Grade 1 races, four weeks apart, at seven furlongs.
“It’s a good distance for her,” trainer John Sadler said.
No kidding.
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – R Heat Lightning is a Grade 1 winner and was runner-up to Eclipse Award winner Awesome Feather in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. But it may be the undefeated and as of yet untested Dancinginherdreams who will draw the most support when a field of seven 3-year-old fillies gathers for Sunday’s extremely attractive, Grade 2, $200,000 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
