OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Aqueduct canceled Thursday’s live racing program after track superintendent Glen Kozak told New York Racing Association officials that he needed more time to get the track in better condition following Tuesday’s winter storm.
It was the second straight card that was canceled and sixth of the winter meet.
Aqueduct and Belmont Park were to be open for simulcasting on Thursday.
J P’s Gusto, a four-time stakes winner last year, is expected to make his 3-year-old debut in the $250,000 Southwest Stakes over a mile at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 21 and will be ridden by Ramon Dominguez, according to Steve Bajer, racing manager for owner John Waken.
Trainer David Hofmans said last week that he was leaning toward the $150,000 San Vicente Stakes over seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Feb. 20, with the Southwest Stakes as a back-up. Bajer said the priority of the two races has been reversed.
Ron the Greek will be an outsider for trainer Tom Albertrani in Saturday's Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park.
A late-running son of Mandate, he became a major player on the Triple Crown trail this time a year ago following his victory in the Grade 3 Le Comte at the Fair Grounds but was stopped on for the remainder of his 3-year-old campaign after finishing sixth in the Louisiana Derby. Ron the Greek returned from a 10-month layoff here two weeks ago to finish second under high-priced optional claiming and allowance conditions behind Our Dark Knight.
Win Willy has been assigned top weight of 123 pounds for the $100,000 Essex, a 1 1/16-mile handicap to be run at Oaklawn on Saturday. Mac Robertson trains the horse and said he is being pointed for the race.
“I’m going to enter and I expect to run,” Robertson said Wednesday.
Cliff Berry will ride Win Willy, a Grade 2 winner of close to $600,000 who took the $75,000 Fifth Season at Oaklawn on Jan. 16.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Honour the Deputy can prove to be a bargain, or a bust, when he starts in Saturday’s $200,000 Strub Stakes at Santa Anita.
The Grade 2 race for 4-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles will be Honour the Deputy’s stakes debut, and first start for Barnett Stables, Mark Dedomenico, and George Todaro since trainer Jerry Hollendorfer acquired the gelding on their behalf privately last fall.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The time off that trainer Tim Ritchey gave Elite Alex to grow into his large frame appears to be working in the horse’s favor this winter at Oaklawn Park. Elite Alex turned in a notable breeze over the weekend and remains on pace to make his stakes debut in the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest on Feb. 21.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Matto Mondo, unraced since a third-place finish in the 2009 Santa Anita Handicap, returns to racing in a $68,000 allowance race on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Friday. The allowance race will be Matto Mondo’s first start since recovering from a tendon injury, and a race trainer Richard Mandella cautions that the 7-year-old gelding needs.
“I want to get a race into him and get him going again,” Mandella said. “He probably needs to get the cobwebs out. I don’t think it’s his best trip. He’s better going longer.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Rick Violette understands why some may question his sanity wanting to travel from south Florida to New York at this time of year. Heck, even he’s doing it.
“Obviously, I have no brain cells if I’m trying to come up there,” Violette, whose Wednesday JetBlue flight from Florida to New York was canceled, said by phone from the Palm Meadows training center.
The 7-year-old gelding Jess You and I was hardly acting his age last weekend.
In Saturday’s trials for the $214,550 Los Alamitos Winter Championship, Jess You and I set the fastest qualifying time for the 400-yard final on Feb. 19, showing he is still capable of adding to a remarkable career of 16 wins in 31 starts and earnings of $1,646,271.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has canceled its nine-race Thursday card after more than three inches of rain fell in the area on Tuesday, and freezing temperatures overnight kept the track from being open for training on Wednesday.
