ARCADIA, Calif. – Just nine days after she beat maidens in a 22-1 upset, Advantage Player will be back on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course for Saturday’s $75,000 Sweet Life Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
While the timing of the race is not ideal, trainer Peter Miller said the opportunity is too good to pass.
“She bounced out of the race so good,” Miller said. “It’s hard to find the down-the-hill spots. If we pass this, we would probably be waiting two months to run her back.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Oaklawn Park has canceled its nine-race card for Thursday because of an expected winter storm and poor weather conditions north of nearby Little Rock, Ark.
The track was open for training on Thursday morning, but snow began to fall just after 10:30 a.m. Central. It was 36 degrees in Hot Springs early Thursday afternoon, with forecasters calling for temperatures to drop to 20 degrees overnight.
Keeneland Race Course released the stakes schedule for the 2011 spring meet with minimal change from years past, although three stakes have undergone moderate purse cuts from 2010.
The 15-day meet at the Lexington, Ky., track runs April 8-29, and the richest event, as usual, is the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes on April 16. The Blue Grass is one of four Grade 1 races on tap, along with the $400,000 Ashland on April 9, the $300,000 Vinery Madison on April 14, and the $300,000 Maker’s Mark Mile on April 15.
Music Please, unbeaten in three starts as a 3-year-old last year while racing exclusively at seven furlongs, tries to run a bit farther and significantly faster than she has ever run before in Saturday’s $75,000 Nellie Morse Stakes at Laurel Park.
The one-mile Nellie Morse drew a field of six fillies and mares, includiing stakes winner Baltimore Belle and graded-stakes-placed New York shipper McVictory.
Because of a developing snowstorm in the northern Kentucky region, officials at Turfway Park canceled the nine-race card scheduled for Thursday evening at the Florence, Ky., track. Racing is scheduled to resume Friday with a 5:30 p.m. Eastern post time.
Churchill Downs also canceled simulcast wagering at its Trackside OTB in Louisville on Thursday.
PHOENIX – Saturday’s $25,000 Swift Stakes at Turf Paradise is a fork in the road for one-time top sprinter Twin Sparks and the local sprint division. The 5 1/2-furlong event may be the last chance for Twin Sparks, now 8, to reclaim some of his old glory, or it could mark a changing of the guard in the division. The six-furlong world-record holder, Twin Sparks heads a field of nine.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- While Uncle Mo understandably garners most of the attention when it comes to trainer Todd Pletcher’s band of 3-year-old prospects, there are at least a half-dozen other prominent youngsters of both sexes who could have a major impact in stakes races throughout the course of the winter.
Brethren, Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver’s little brother, is still a few breezes away from his 3-year-old debut.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Uncle Mo is about ready to get back to some serious work.
Uncle Mo, crowned juvenile champion at Monday’s Eclipse Award ceremonies, has been galloping steadily at the Palm Meadows training facility and according to his trainer, Todd Pletcher, is almost up to his first breeze as a 3-year-old.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Bob Baffert, who leads all trainers with 17 wins, has picked early February stakes for two of his stakes horses who won or placed last weekend.
Always a Princess, who won Sunday’s Grade 2 El Encino Stakes for 4-year-old fillies, is being pointed to the $150,000 La Canada Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 13.
