SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Life At Ten, who looms Rachel Alexandra’s toughest hurdle in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 29, worked four furlongs in a modest 51.47 seconds Tuesday morning over a muddy Saratoga main track.
Under exercise rider Patti Barry, Life At Ten went her first quarter in 26.18 seconds and her second quarter in 25.29. She galloped out five furlongs in 1:05.52. The track was harrowed after the break after having been sealed along the inside paths before the break.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – U.S. shipper Weekend Wildcat heads an eight-horse field in the first 2-year-old allowance race of the Woodbine meet Thursday. The race will be run over six furlongs for a purse of $71,600.
Weekend Wildcat debuted at his Keeneland base April 2, when he was beaten a nose in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special on Polytrack. The third-place finisher, Speed Demon, graduated in his next race, before placing in three consecutive stakes.
AUBURN, Wash. – Noosa Beach, the fastest horse at Emerald Downs, headlines a list of 22 nominees for the Grade 3, $250,000 Longacres Mile on Aug. 22.
An Emerald-based runner has won every edition of the Mile since 2005, and Noosa Beach, a three-time stakes winner this year, would seem to have a substantial home-course advantage. But as it usually does, the Mile is shaping up as litmus test for the locals, with stakes winners from California, Kentucky, Florida, and Canada lining up to challenge Noosa Beach and his Emerald rivals.
Bears Home Run will try to make it two wins in a row for owner-trainer Dale Greenwood at Northlands Park on Wednesday. The $30,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up will serve as the co-feature with the $20,960 Black Gold Classic for Quarter Horses.
DEL MAR, Calif.-Tuscan Evening’s death on Sunday morning of an apparent internal injury after a workout at Del Mar came at a time when the star mare had yet to fully reach her potential, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.
The winner of six stakes this year, Tuscan Evening was the clear leader of the female turf division in California and was being pointed for the $750,000 Beverly D Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 21.
“She showed some of what she could do, but she didn’t get a chance to show all that she could do,” Hollendorfer said on Sunday afternoon. “We’re pretty upset.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Grade 1 winner Take the Points is suffering from an ankle issue that may force him to miss Saturday’s $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.
Pletcher was forced to postpone a scheduled Monday workout for Take the Points after the colt wrenched an ankle. Pletcher said Take the Points would have to be able to work by Wednesday in order to make the race.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y – While their combined record of 2 for 26 may not inspire much confidence, the recent form of trainer Rodrigo Ubillo’s uncoupled entry of Adirondack Warrior and Leatherhead makes either one a value play for Wednesday’s $100,000 Cab Calloway division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Saratoga.
The Cab Calloway, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course, is restricted to progeny of New York-based stallions. The field of 10 includes two maidens.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The trainers of last Sunday’s two stakes winners here presented a study in contrasts.
Roger Attfield, who is 70 years old and saddled his first winner Canadian winner in 1972, was watching Sand Cove become the 348th stakes winner of his career when that 5-year-old defeated three rivals in the $179,100 Seagram Cup at 1 1/16 miles.
Bill Tharrenos, 47, saddled his first winner here in 2005 and was watching Tree Pose become his first stakes winner when the filly outfooted 10 opponents in the $127,400 Nandi at six furlongs.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The stakes debut of the unbeaten Goggles McCoy in Wednesday’s $100,000 Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar will be a lot more interesting to fans than owner Tom Shapiro and trainer Steve Sherman could have envisioned.
Goggles McCoy will start as the favorite in the Real Good Deal Stakes, which is the seventh race on an eight-race program that features a pick-six carryover of $178,834 from Sunday’s program.
The program begins at 2 p.m., Pacific. The first pick-six race is due off shortly after 3 p.m.
Despite a barn area that has been only 60 percent full and trainers awaiting the opening of other meets, field sizes at Santa Rosa have held up well.
Entering the final week of racing at Santa Rosa, most of the mules, Arabians, Quarter Horses, and cheaper horses are waiting for the Humboldt County Fair meet at Ferndale, which opens Friday. Some other horses will pass the final week at Santa Rosa in favor of the Aug. 25 return of racing at Golden Gate Fields.
However, entries are decent for the first three days of this week, and Sunday’s Cavonnier drew 16 nominations.