ARCADIA, Calif. - Graded stakes wins on Santa Anita's turf course give Jeranimo and The Usual Q. T. an advantage in Saturday's $300,000 Sunshine Millions Turf here. They will need it.
Jeranimo won the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on the course over 1 1/8 miles, the same distance as the Sunshine Millions Turf for California-breds and Florida-breds. The Usual Q. T. was third in that Dec. 27 race, and won the Grade 2 Oak Tree Derby in 2009 over the same course and distance.
C C’S Pal, who in her last local appearance finished second in the 2010 Florida Oaks, makes her 2011 debut at Tampa Bay Downs Saturday when she tops a deep and talented field of 11 fillies and mares in the $50,000 Manatee Stakes at seven furlongs.
Rosemary Homeister Jr. will handle C C’s Pal for trainer Derek Ryan in the Manatee, the first of two stakes for older fillies and mares at this meeting. The $50,000 Wayward Lass completes the series and will be contested at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 26.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Native Ruler is the class of the $50,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, but he still has a significant question to answer in the six-furlong stakes for older horses. The race will be his first since September, so he will be giving up recency to all seven of his rivals.
Stately Victor and Southern Anthem appear primed to put on a show through the stretch run of Saturday night’s Grade 3, $200,000 Connally Cup Turf at Sam Houston Race Park. Both horses registered their biggest career wins at the handicap’s 1 1/8-mile distance, and each is thriving heading into what is the richest race of the meet.
After Avie’s Tale scored a surprising off-the-turf win in the Jan. 1 Blushing K D Handicap – her first career dirt victory – trainer Josie Carroll said she’d noticed an immediate uptick in Avie’s Tale’s training after the mare arrived in New Orleans for the winter. Having conquered the Fair Grounds main track, Avie’s Tale will try for a turf stakes win in the $60,000 Marie Krantz Memorial Handicap on Saturday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Ed Barker, the trainer of Meese Rocks, breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t see the name Nicole H among the eight fillies and mares entered in Saturday’s $65,000 Correction Stakes at Aqueduct.
In a four-week span, Meese Rocks had run two of her best races only to finish second by 2 1/2 lengths to Nicole H in both the Garland of Roses and Interborough Stakes. Saturday, if Meese Rocks can run either of those two races back, she will be the horse to beat in the Correction, run at six furlongs over the inner track.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Factor, who set a six-furlong track record on Dec. 26, is being pointed for the $150,000 San Vicente Stakes over seven furlongs on Feb. 20, trainer Bob Baffert said on Thursday.
Owned by George Bolton and Fog City Stable, The Factor ran six furlongs in 1:06.98 on the opening day of the winter-spring meeting, drawing off to win by 8 1/4 lengths.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Cost of Freedom is 8, but advanced age did not prevent him from winning three recent stakes and confirming his status as an elite California sprinter.
“He’s not a hard-used 8-year-old,” trainer John Sadler said. “It’s not like he’s had a hundred races; 21 races is not that many.”
On Saturday at Santa Anita, Cost of Freedom returns from a seven-week freshening as the favorite in the $200,000 Sunshine Millions Sprint. Eight entered the six-furlong sprint, including an improved Florida shipper that will provide Cost of Freedom his main threat.
Three horses who ran well on the same card at Laurel Park three weeks ago will clash with a lot more at stake in Saturday’s $75,000 Dancing Count, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds.
Familiar foes Afternoon Action and Wicked Thunder, separated by a nose in a second-level optional claimer in their most recent meeting, will face Diski Dance, who improved nearly 20 points on the Beyer Speed Figure scale while romping in a $40,000 claimer. All three horses last ran Jan. 8.
ARCADIA, Calif. – For many of the fillies and mares in Saturday’s $300,000 Sunshine Millions Distaff at Santa Anita, the race is the start of a 2011 campaign. For Evening Jewel, there is a chance it could be her last race.
Trainer Jim Cassidy said on Thursday that Evening Jewel needs a strong performance in the Distaff to continue racing this year. A bad loss could lead to conversations about retiring the 4-year-old Evening Jewel with owner Marilyn Braly.
“If she doesn’t run well, we’ll have to reevaluate,” Cassidy said. “I’d like to see her win one for Marilyn.”
