LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, occupied its customary position as the favorite after fairly strong wagering during the first few hours of Pool 1 of the 2011 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
As of 5:30 p.m. Eastern, and with $51,633 in the win pool, the field (No. 24) was the 3-2 choice over Uncle Mo (No. 23) at 2-1, followed by Dialed In (No. 7) at 7-1, To Honor and Serve (No. 22) at 14-1, and Brethren (No. 3) at 17-1. There was $8,923 in the exacta pool.
The hottest rider on the Gulfstream Park grounds this week isn’t named Velazquez, Castellano, Lopez, or Leparoux. It is Orlando Bocachica or “longshot Orlando” as he’s now being called.
Bocachica rode three winners on Thursday’s nine-race program, including Joe’s Blazing Aaron ($148.60) and Knockinelder ($120).
He then came right back on Friday to capture the third and fourth races aboard Blondie Ruth and Capitalism At Risk.
Kelly Breen said next Saturday's Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park will likely not be an option for Nacho Business despite his very impressive performance on graduation day and two subsequent 59-and-change five-furlong works at Palm Meadows.
“He’s only run once so he doesn’t have the experience the rest of them will have in the Fountain of Youth,” said Breen. “And even though it’s tempting we don’t want to rush a young horse like this that we really like so much.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Bowman’s Causeway is a promising and improving 3-year-old who is coming off a maiden win going 1 1/8 miles here at Gulfstream Park earlier this month. He’s just the type of horse one might expect to be on a path that could ultimately lead him along the trail to a possible berth in the Kentucky Derby.
But Bowman’s Causeway could prove to be the exception to the rule for one good reason. He’s a Canadian-bred whose ultimate goal during the first half of the season is not the Kentucky Derby but to win the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine in late June.
Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint champ Chamberlain Bridge is tentatively scheduled to leave for Dubai on March 15 after winning his seasonal debut last weekend in the $75,000 Rail Splitter at Sam Houston Race Park. He is to make his next start in the Group 2, $1 million Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan Racecourse on March 26.
Chamberlain Bridge will ship out of his Fair Grounds base, with complete travel details still coming together, trainer Bret Calhoun said.
OLDSMAR Fla. – A day after his amazing journey, which started with a trip to the starting gate and wound up with a swim in the Tampa Bay Downs infield lake, the 4-year-old gelding Shipping News was resting comfortably in his stall Friday, nicked and bruised but none the worse for wear following one of the most bizarre episodes in this track’s history.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. − A year ago, trainer Todd Pletcher won the Rare Treat Stakes at Aqueduct with a late-blooming mare who went on to become a major player in the distaff division with two Grade 1 victories and two other graded scores before imploding in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A pair of fillies who last raced in Southern California will meet in Arkansas on Sunday in the $60,000 Spring Fever at Oaklawn Park. Shotgun Gulch is returning to the region following a third-place finish in the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita. Honey Bunch, meanwhile, has come to run on natural dirt after racing on synthetic surfaces last year at Hollywood Park.
The Spring Fever, for fillies and mares at 5 1/2 furlongs, also drew Stephanie Got Even, who will seek her sixth consecutive win after taking last month’s $50,000 American Beauty at Oaklawn.
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ARCADIA, Calif. – The spin stops, or starts again, Sunday at Santa Anita – right where it began two months ago when The Factor ran off the screen.
The most widely hyped 3-year-old in California reappears Sunday for his first start since a dazzling maiden win way back on Dec. 26. The Factor was out of sight, but he was never out of mind.
Kinsale King, who won an allowance race at Golden Gate Fields on Thursday, will train at Hollywood Park until March 15 before being sent to Dubai for a defense of his title in the $2 million Golden Shaheen for sprinters at Meydan Racecourse on March 26.
Trained by Carl O’Callaghan for Patrick Sheeny, Kinsale King won a six-furlong allowance race by three-quarters of a length over Shudacudawudya under a hand-ride from jockey Mike Smith. The allowance race was Kinsale King’s first start since a seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs last November.
