Epicenter was favored in the Kentucky Derby but finished second. He'll try to go one position better, this time as an even stronger favorite, on Saturday at Pimlico in the Preakness Stakes, for which he drew post 8 in a field of nine on Monday.
Epicenter was a lukewarm 4-1 choice in the Derby, in which he was run down late by the longshot Rich Strike. That colt is passing the Preakness to await the Belmont on June 11, but eight others joined Epicenter in the entry box Monday.
Less than a month before his expected 4-year-old debut in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap at Belmont Park on June 11, Flightline had a familiar pilot for his five-furlong workout in 59.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Monday.
Jockey Flavien Prat, who has ridden Flightline in all three of his wins, flew from his new base in New York to partner the exciting colt. The workout was the first time Prat had been aboard Flightline since the colt won his stakes debut by 11 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs on Dec. 26.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Now that a handful of jockeys who took a whole lot of purse money out of here Derby week have gone home to New York, it’s Tyler Gaffalione back to faring best among the local colony.
Gaffalione, the perennial leading rider at the major Kentucky meets the past few years, has surged to the top of the spring-meet standings with 15 wins, including 11 during the first post-Derby week. Gaffalione capped the four-day week with four Sunday wins.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mandaloun, the 2021 Kentucky Derby winner via disqualification, is gearing up for a possible run in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on July 2 at Churchill. The 4-year-old Juddmonte Farms homebred has breezed here the last two Sundays, the latest a half-mile work in 49.20 seconds, in his first drills since finishing ninth in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 26.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ivar, the Brazilian-bred turf standout, is back training after recovering from a minor hoof injury that forced him to miss a couple of recent Grade 1 turf races.
Trained by Paulo Lobo, Ivar was scratched from both the April 15 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland and the May 7 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs while troubled by what Lobo described “as a sore heel on the inside of his left front hoof.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Brice Blanc said on Sunday that he hopes to resume riding as early as next weekend after he was stepped on by a horse behind the gate at Santa Anita on May 7.
Blanc said he sustained no broken bones when he jumped from Albayaader, only for the filly to promptly step on his right foot.
“It literally ripped my boot off,” he said.
Blanc was briefly hospitalized that evening. He was released and told to rest the foot.
The 20-cent Rainbow pick six will have a mandatory payout on May 30 at Santa Anita, track officials said on Saturday.
The May 30 program includes three Grade 1 races – the $500,000 Shoemaker Mile on turf, the $400,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on dirt, and the $400,000 Gamely Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf for fillies and mares.
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ARCADIA, Calif. - Hot Rod Charlie, the three-time graded or group stakes winner who was second in the $12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 26, resumed workouts over the weekend for a summer campaign.
On Saturday at Santa Anita, Hot Rod Charlie worked three furlongs in 36.40 seconds, his first major exercise since the Dubai World Cup. Trainer Doug O’Neill said the 4-year-old Hot Rod Charlie will be considered for the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes, a $750,000 race at 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs on July 2.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Neige Blanche has won six graded or group stakes in France and in California at Del Mar and Santa Anita. Her next stakes win could be at the highest level.
After Neige Blanche’s latest win in Saturday’s Grade 3 Santa Barbara Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Santa Anita, trainer Leonard Powell said the 5-year-old mare’s next goal may be the Grade 1 New York Stakes, a $750,000 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Belmont Park on June 10.
ELMONT, N.Y. - With the major targets for Bella Sofia later in the year, the 4-year-old filly who narrowly won Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap will likely get plenty of time before she makes her second start of 2022, trainer Rudy Rodriguez said.
Bella Sofia, last year’s Grade 1 Test winner, nosed out six-time stakes winner Frank’s Rockette in the Vagrancy, Bella Sofia’s first start since last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Both Bella Sofia and Frank’s Rockette earned 100 Beyer Speed Figures for their performances.
