LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Todd Pletcher has established himself in the trenches in Louisville, and Friday morning, the troops were at work. Pletcher, who will have a string at Churchill Downs throughout this upcoming meeting, sent out Wood Memorial winner Mo Donegal and Florida Derby runner-up Charge It out for their penultimate breezes for the Kentucky Derby, after earlier in the morning working a trio of candidates for the Kentucky Oaks.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A little more than a week before entries are drawn, the Grade 1, $1,250,000 Kentucky Oaks appears assured of the maximum field of 14 fillies.
Ben Huffman, racing secretary at Keeneland and Churchill Downs, said interest from horsemen has been extremely high for the May 6 Oaks, for which entries will be drawn next Monday, May 2.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After difficult meets at Aqueduct during the fall and winter, trainer George Weaver has righted the ship this spring, winning with five of 11 starts at the short Aqueduct spring meet.
Weaver hopes to finish out the meet strong and head into the upcoming Belmont Park season with some momentum when he sends out runners in three of the four stakes held during Aqueduct’s closing weekend.
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Eclipse Award champion Channel Maker looks to right the ship in the Grade 2, $350,000 Elkhorn Stakes and Canadian Horse of the Year Mighty Heart tops the field for the Grade 3, $300,000 Ben Ali Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Eric Reed has a Kentucky Derby horse. Rich Strike might not become an actual Derby starter, depending on what happens in the next two weeks, but his name will appear on the Churchill Downs program as part of the field for the Derby on May 7 nonetheless.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The champions Letruska and Ce Ce have been entered in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park.
Post positions for the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares were drawn Monday.
Letruska’s name came out of the box first, and she will start from post 2 under Jose Ortiz. The champion older female of 2021, she has been made the 124-pound highweight for the Apple Blossom, a race she won in 2021.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The Grade 1 winner Bella Sofia continues to progress toward her 4-year-old debut, which is expected to come during the Belmont Park spring/summer meeting.
On Saturday, Bella Sofia went five furlongs in 1:01.20, working in company with Summer to Remember. It was her fifth work - but first at five furlongs - since she returned to trainer Rudy Rodriguez’s barn in late winter.
“She went very good,” Rodriguez said. “We put a little company with her, put a little more pressure on her, but she did it very comfortabl. Everything was very good.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Yes, he was favored, but Disco Pharoah still impressed his trainer, Ray Handal, with his solid 3 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Frank Whiteley Stakes at Laurel Park.
Disco Pharoah, coming off a 19 1/2-length maiden win at Aqueduct in March, was taking on a group of older, more-seasoned horses in their backyard. Disco Pharoah, in just his fourth start, vanned down to Maryland the morning of the race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Todd Pletcher will spend the bulk of the next three weeks in Kentucky where he is preparing three horses for the Kentucky Derby and three for the Kentucky Oaks as well horses for other major stakes at Churchill Downs and Keeneland.
When he returns to New York, Pletcher will likely have a few familiar faces in his Belmont shed row as they gear up for their 2022 campaigns.
Americanrevolution, the Grade 1 Cigar Mile winner, and Annapolis, the Grade 2 Pilgrim winner, have recently returned to the work tab after lengthy winter freshenings.
Regal Glory posted her third straight graded stakes score in Saturday’s Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland and will look to make it four in a row in the Just a Game in New York a little less than eight weeks off.
The Grade 1, $500,000 Just a Game is contested on the Belmont Stakes undercard on June 11. The race is at a mile, a distance at which Regal Glory has proven proficient.
