Unraced since a fourth-place finish as the 4-5 favorite in the $529,900 Virginia Derby in March, Getaway Car, a two-time stakes winner, starts in an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Sunday against a tough field.
Getaway Car is trained by Bob Baffert, who also runs Midland Money, a game second at 2-5 in an allowance race at six furlongs at Santa Anita on Oct. 26. Midland Money finished a neck behind Elwood Blues, who is part of Sunday’s allowance race, which drew a field of seven.
It may take the 29 races scheduled from Friday through Sunday at Del Mar to determine the leading rider of the autumn meeting.
Through Thursday, with three days of racing remaining, Umberto Rispoli led all riders with 14 wins, with Antonio Fresu (11), Mirco Demuro (10), Armando Ayuso (9) and Hector Berrios (8) rounding out the top five.
Juan Hernandez, who has won five consecutive riding titles at Del Mar’s summer and autumn meetings since the summer of 2023, has seven wins, leaving him in a tie for sixth-place with Tiago Pereira.
New York-based trainer Rudy Rodriguez could face penalties that include a suspension of his license and monetary fines after the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority [HISA], issued him a show-cause notice concerning a potential provisional suspension of his license.
Mrs. Astor, the five-time stakes winner, is nearing retirement in peak form.
Mrs. Astor won the Grade 3 Red Carpet Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on Saturday for the second consecutive year, the first time the race had a repeat winner since it was launched in 2014.
Trainer Jonathan Thomas said on Wednesday that Mrs. Astor will race again in coming months, perhaps twice, before she is sent to Kentucky to be bred.
Owned and bred by George Strawbridge Jr., Mrs. Astor has won 7 of 21 starts and earned $567,235.
Tom’s Magic has gone from an awkward colt at the start of his career to a three-time stakes winner in 2025, developing at such a pace that will start for the first time in a Grade 1 in Saturday’s $300,000 Hollywood Derby on turf at Del Mar.
Tom’s Magic won the minor Tale of the Cat Stakes on turf at Monmouth Park in late June, finished second in the famous King’s Plate Stakes at Woodbine on Aug. 26, and won the longest race of his career in the Breeders’ Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Woodbine on Sept. 28.
Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona, canceled its fourth consecutive live racing day on Tuesday as the area continues to reel from excessive rainfall from two separate storm systems.
All four cards, stretching back to last Wednesday, have been canceled due to track conditions. The Phoenix area received torrential rains early last week, and after a brief break near the end of the week, when Turf Paradise was dark, the rain returned.
The Louisiana Racing Commission and Evangeline Downs in Opelousas are scheduled to conduct separate investigations into a Saturday night incident in which an ambulance was driven toward an oncoming field of Quarter Horses competing in a hook race over 870 yards.
There were no known injuries to jockeys or horses in the race, which stewards declared a no contest as a result of the ambulance being out of position, it was announced. The eighth race was an allowance.
Ricardo Santana Jr., an eight-time leading rider at Oaklawn Park, will return to the Hot Springs, Ark., track for the upcoming winter meet, agent P.J. Campo said Monday.
Santana, who moved his tack to New York last May following Oaklawn, will start riding at Oaklawn when that track opens Dec. 12. With the exception of Dec. 20, when he’ll be at Remington Park, Santana will ride at Oaklawn through Jan. 4. When Oaklawn closes for three weeks in January, Santana plans to ride at Aqueduct before returning to Oaklawn when it resumes its winter season on Jan. 30.
There is a carryover of $350,907 in the jackpot pick six on Wednesday’s card, which begins the final five-day stand at Churchill Downs for this meet. The nominal feature on the card is a $127,000 sprint allowance for fillies and mares who have never won a race other-than or who have never won twice.
