HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Connie K, who has won her last three starts topped by the $150,000 Downthedustyroad on March 5 at Oaklawn, could see more stakes action at the meet, according to trainer Randy Morse.
Morse said there is an outside chance Connie K could run back in the $200,000 Carousel on April 2. He said the other option is to move her to two turns for the $150,000 Natural State for Arkansas-bred fillies and mares May 6.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The next move with Pauline’s Pearl, who went over $1 million in earnings with her fast-closing second in the Grade 2 Azeri on March 12 at Oaklawn, is to be determined, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday.
“We’re obviously very proud of her,” he said. “She’s a top class filly. With the blessing of having her and Clairiere for Stonestreet, we’ll keep them separated. It’s undecided as to where she runs next.”
Imprimis, a standout turf sprinter, has been retired because of a minor ankle injury that precluded him from further racing, trainer Joe Orseno said Wednesday.
“We maybe could’ve swam him and rehabbed him for six months and brought him back,” said Orseno, “but he’s just been too good to us to ask him to do all that at his age.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Chasing Time has punched his ticket to the Arkansas Derby.
He worked five furlongs in a bullet 1:00 on Monday at Oaklawn Park and on Tuesday trainer Steve Asmussen said the horse is being pointed for the Grade 1, $1.25 million race on April 2.
Chasing Time was a more than seven-length allowance winner in his two-turn debut Jan. 14 at Oaklawn. He returned to run a close fifth in the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on Feb. 26.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – In Due Time, the runner-up in an eventful running of the March 5 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park, will bypass the April 2 Florida Derby in favor of a later Kentucky Derby prep, according to trainer Kelly Breen.
In Due Time has not breezed since the Fountain of Youth but will do so later this week at the Palm Meadows training center, said Breen.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Wednesday’s eight-race program is highlighted by a pair of statebred allowance events, both carded at one mile.
A familiar field of 10 older horses will contest the sixth race, which is on turf. The race brings back the first four finishers from a similarly conditioned event here Feb. 18 – Drillomatic, Astroturf, Marisa’s Mission, and Exchange Day. The Wesley Ward-trained Super Design is the most relevant new face in the lineup.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockeys Luis Saez and Irad Ortiz Jr. were both red hot over the weekend. Saez, who holds a commanding edge in the jockey standings with just two weeks left in the Championship meet, won four races Saturday and came back to register three victories, all aboard odds-on favorites, on Sunday’s card. Ortiz registered hat tricks on both days.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla – Simplification didn’t have the fastest five-furlong work on Saturday’s tab at Gulfstream Park, not even close to it. That honor went to two other notable Kentucky Derby candidates, the Kenny McPeek-trained team of Smile Happy and Rattle N Roll, who completed the distance in a crisp 58.81 seconds working in company after the second renovation break.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Forbidden Kingdom went back to the track Monday at Santa Anita, none the worse after a fever interrupted his training and forced him to miss a workout last week.
Runaway winner of the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 5 and the leading California prospect for the Kentucky Derby, Forbidden Kingdom galloped a mile and one-eighth at 7 a.m. for trainer Richard Mandella.
“He acts like nothing ever happened,” Mandella said, downplaying the relevance of the March 18 missed work. The trainer suggested Forbidden Kingdom is not compromised.
Florida-breds who went on to prove themselves in Grade 1 company have captured races in the annual Florida Cup at Tampa Bay Downs, with World Approval and Imperial Hint being the most notable winners in recent years.
The Florida Cup will be renewed Sunday at Tampa in Oldsmar, Fla., and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is hoping the event sets up Shifty She, one of his emerging stable stars, for similar success when she runs in the Distaff Turf, one of six $110,000 races that make up the 19th Florida Cup.
