HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Larry Jones will become a private trainer for his partners and himself starting in July in a move that will end a 40-year run as a public trainer during which he won Grade 1 races from New York to Southern California.
Jones, who is 65, said he wants to cut back on his travel and will base year round in Kentucky. He and his wife, Cindy, have a home in Henderson, Ky. Jones, who has four grandchildren, is currently based at Oaklawn Park.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Fantasy runner-up Beguine has found herself on the bubble for the Kentucky Oaks after the latest round of preps, but her connections are proceeding as if she will draw into the filly classic that has a field-size limit of 14.
Trainer Dan Peitz said Tuesday that owner Charles Matses has made Beguine eligible for the Kentucky Oaks by paying a late nomination fee to the race. The $1,500 fee is due Saturday. Peitz also said plans are to send Beguine, who is based at Oaklawn, to Churchill Downs.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Gary Sciacca on Wednesday morning was still enjoying the spoils of Exotic West’s three-quarter-length victory as the longest shot on the board in Sunday’s $100,000 Top Flight Invitational.
If you don’t count her losing her rider at the start of the Ladies Stakes in January, it was the third straight victory for Exotic West, a daughter of Hard Spun owned by Louis Lazzinnaro.
“I watched the replay again and he never hit her,” Sciacca said, referring to jockey Javier Castellano.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - First Captain finished last of seven as the third choice in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Carter Handicap and trainer Shug McGaughey isn’t sure what happened.
“I got no explanation,” McGaughey said Wednesday morning at his Belmont Park barn. “He galloped this morning as good as a horse could gallop, I can’t find anything wrong with him. He wasn’t going to beat [Speaker’s Corner] - the winner freaked - but he folded up in a hurry.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A pair of solid efforts going a mile or farther - including a victory in the Forever Together Stakes here last November - made Saturday’s $100,000 Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct a logical target for Flower Point to make her seasonal debut.
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Bye Bye Bobby was not entered in the Lexington and is no longer under consideration for the Derby after recently developing a foot abscess, according to trainer Todd Fincher.
“Things have not gone perfect since we got here,” said Fincher. “It’s the kind of thing that’ll probably be fine in a day or two, but we’re out of the Lexington. We’ll stay over for a while and see if we can’t make it to another race there at Churchill.”
Luis Saez has the mount on Secret Oath for the May 6 Kentucky Oaks, replacing Luis Contreras, who rode the D. Wayne Lukas-trained filly in her last four starts, ending with a third-place finish in the Arkansas Derby.
Saez’s agent is Kiaran McLaughlin, who was an assistant to Lukas in the 1980s before becoming a highly successful trainer in his own right.
Secret Oath is one of the favorites for the filly classic, along with Echo Zulu, Kathleen O., and Nest. A full gate of 14 is expected.
Nashville sent to Rood and Riddle
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Even with 40 points from his runner-up finish in the April 2 Jeff Ruby Steaks, Tawny Port will wheel back Saturday at Keeneland in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes, the final qualifier for the 148th Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Brad Cox said he is running Tawny Port just two weeks later primarily “to see how he can do on the dirt,” even though the 40 points earned by the Pioneerof the Nile colt in the Ruby figure to be sufficient to make the 20-horse cutoff for the May 7 Derby at Churchill Downs. Points for the $400,000 Lexington are awarded on a 20-8-4-2 basis.
Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Aloha West is set to make his 2022 debut May 7 in the Grade 1, $750,000 Churchill Downs Stakes.
Aloha West, trained by Wayne Catalano for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, has been based at Churchill since leaving Fair Grounds in late March. He worked five furlongs there Friday in 59.40 seconds, fastest of 44 breezes at the distance that morning.
Oaklawn Park will bring together 14 members of the Hall of Fame on Saturday to meet with fans during an autograph session and to participate in special winner’s circle presentations, the track announced Tuesday.
Oaklawn will have a 12-race card featuring the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap that drew champion Jackie’s Warrior.
The announced participants are Steve Asmussen, Bill Boland, Calvin Borel, Ramon Dominguez, Earlie Fires, Sandy Hawley, Chris McCarron, Bill Mott, Don Pierce, Laffit Pincay Jr., Edgar Prado, Jose Santos, Gary Stevens, and Nick Zito.
