INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Even in the mornings, Life Is Sweet can be overshadowed by her undefeated stablemate Zenyatta.
Life Is Sweet, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic at Santa Anita last November, worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 at Hollywood Park on Friday. It was the fastest workout of the morning at the distance, until Zenyatta zipped six furlongs in 1:11.80 about 30 minutes later.
Eightyfiveinafifty, who imploded as the 1-4 favorite in the Whirlaway Stakes on Feb. 6, returned to the work tab on Thursday, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.03 over the inner track. The move was the fastest of 11 at the distance.
"It was a nice comeback breeze," trainer Gary Contessa said. "He went the first quarter in 25, the half in 48-and-4. It was the old Eightyfiveinafifty. And he did nothing wrong after the wire. He hugged that turn galloping out."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Last fall, Bickersons finished 10th of 12 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita, but came back 16 days later to win the Moccasin Stakes at Hollywood Park.
Trainer Kelly Breen is hoping a similar quick turnaround will result in another stakes victory as he plans to start Bickersons in next Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Cicada Stakes at Aqueduct. The Cicada, for 3-year-old fillies, comes just two weeks after Bickersons finished fourth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park.
There are mixed feelings, understandably. Allen Crupper grew up in Kentucky horse country and dreams of winning the Kentucky Derby someday. But for now, he is satisfied with having sold a Derby prospect for a huge windfall. In partnership with his brother Keith, Crupper bought Tiz Chrome as a yearling for $5,000 in September 2008, then raised and trained the colt for 14 months before selling him to clients of Bob Baffert.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The Grade 3, $200,000 British Columbia Derby will cap a weekend featuring eight stakes races totaling $650,000 at the 2010 Hastings meet. The B.C. Derby, the most important race at Hastings, is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 26. Also on the card is the $75,000 Ascot Graduation for 2-year-olds, plus a couple of $50,000 stakes for 3-year-olds and up: the six-furlong Derby Bar & Grill Express and the 1 1/8-mile Sir Winston Churchill.
Leading up to the B.C. Derby are four Saturday stakes, including the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - There is no shortage of big name 3-year-olds stabled at Gulfstream Park this winter. Three of them - stablemates Noble's Promise and Beautician and Eclipse Award winner She Be Wild - worked here on a frigid Friday morning.
Noble's Promise and Beautician worked in company for trainer Ken McPeek about 20 minutes after the first renovation break. After breaking a length behind Beautician, Noble's Promise drew even inside the eighth pole and hit the wire about a half-length ahead. He galloped out nearly two lengths clear into the clubhouse turn.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Zenyatta had just completed a six-furlong workout at Hollywood Park on Friday morning when trainer John Shirreffs looked at his stopwatch and grinned.
"I had her in 11 and change," he said. "I don't think I had it right. The poles are kind of tough."
As he said that, Shirreffs reached for a telephone to confer with Hollywood Park clocker Russ Hudak. It turns out that Shirreffs's watch was spot on. Zenyatta had an official time of six furlongs in 1:11.80, with a final quarter-mile in 23.60 seconds.
Family connections helped Carlos Gonzalez build a Quarter Horse stable at Los Alamitos. Horses such as Brooklyn Boy are helping to show he belongs.
Gonzalez, 24, won the richest race of his two-year training career on Saturday in the $134,000 Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes. He trains Brooklyn Boy for his uncle Felix. Another of Carlos Gonzalez s uncles, Enrique Gonzalez, operates EG High Desert Farm and has been one of the more prominent owners at Los Alamitos in recent years.
The New York stewards have suspended trainer Cody Autrey 30 days and fined him $1,000 for the finding of a banned substance in one of his horses who raced at Aqueduct in December. Autrey has appealed the suspension and was granted a stay.
Geno Green, who finished second in the first race at Aqueduct on Dec. 26, was found to have the bronchial dilator clenbuterol in his system.
The Oaklawn Park board of stewards has suspended trainer Jorge Lara pending adjudication of a second-degree felony charge for domestic battery that happened offtrack Feb. 27. Lara was arrested and released, and has a court date in the case April 6.