Welcome to Under the Radar. Each week, I’ll select an up-and-coming Derby prospect for my stable of Radar Runners.
Neil Howard may be best known for his thoughtful and patient handling of young horses. Rarely will you see a Howard juvenile pop first-time out. In fact, according to DRF Formulator statistics, Howard is only 3 for 51 (6 percent, 0.85 return on investment) with debuting 2-year-olds over the past five years.
NEW ORLEANS – That’s more like it.
One month after a mere four horses contested the Lecomte Stakes, the first of Fair Grounds’ three route stakes for 3-year-olds, a far more competitive field of 10 was entered Monday in the Grade 2, $300,000 Risen Star Stakes, the local prelude to the Louisiana Derby and one of six stakes races on Saturday’s program.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A pair of three-win days last week established Bruce Brown as the hottest stable on the grounds, momentum the trainer hopes carries over to Wednesday’s program when he sends out four runners on Aqueduct’s nine-race card, including the promising 3-year-old New York-bred Dr Disco in the afternoon’s feature race.
Brown went 3 for 3 on Thursday and 3 for 4 on Sunday to move into a three-way tie for sixth in the trainer standings, with 13 wins from 69 starters.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Silver Reunion – strong as a young horse – came out Saturday in the Grade 3, $125,000 Endeavour at Tampa Bay Downs and gave a strong signal to her connections and the fans that she’s a maturing filly with a bright future with her front-running victory in her first race since last August.
Silver Reunion had her rider, Ramon Dominguez, shaking his head as he left the winner’s circle after the Endeavour,
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Brian Pedroza, the leading apprentice jockey at Aqueduct this winter, will take at least one week off after suffering from general soreness as a result of a spill Sunday at Aqueduct that included four horses and riders.
None of the other riders in the spill – Charlie Amaro, Nazario Alvarado, and Abel Lezcano – are expected to miss any time. Honor Ernesto, ridden by Amaro, suffered fatal injuries and had to be euthanized. The other three horses involved – Soft Parade, Trinity Warrior, and Rightuplynn’salley were not seriously hurt.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.- Acting Happy began her 2010 campaign in a 1 1/8-mile maiden race at Gulfstream Park and ended it in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Churchill Downs.
On Wednesday, Acting Happy will begin her 2011 season back at Gulfstream going 1 1/8 miles in a $55,000 second-level optional claiming and allowance race with her ultimate goal to make it back to the Ladies’ Classic at Churchill Downs again this fall.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla - A year ago about this time, trainer Chad Brown was thinking Florida Derby and even Kentucky Derby with a promising 3-year-old named Tiz the One. A son of Tiznow, Tiz the One opened his career here with two impressive victories, the second a one-mile entry level allowance win for which he earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. Unfortunately, a series of injuries has kept Tiz the One sidelined ever since.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.- Trainer Todd Pletcher reported that Brethren came out of his easy victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in good order, but remained noncommittal regarding when or where Brethren, younger brother of Super Saver, might start next.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Factor, the track-record holder for six furlongs at Santa Anita, is tentatively scheduled to start in Sunday’s Grade 2, $150,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita after working seven furlongs at Hollywood Park on Monday.
The Factor was timed in 1:24.40, after splits of 35.60 seconds for three furlongs and six furlongs in 1:11.60, according to Hollywood Park clockers.
“Right now, he looks good,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “The way he looks right now, he’d run unless something changes my mind.”
NEW ORLEANS - Drosselmeyer's 4-year-old debut will be delayed while the horse recovers from a minor virus that infected him last week. The illness will prevent Drosselmeyer, winner of the 2010 Belmont Stakes, from shipping from trainer Bill Mott's Payson Park base in Florida to Fair Grounds for Saturday's Mineshaft Handicap, as had been planned.
"He's better," Mott said Monday. "Just a little virus, I suppose."
Drosselmeyer has not yet resumed training, and Mott said no specific race was yet being targeted for Drosselmeyer's comeback.
