ARCADIA, Calif. – Vivacious Vanessa looked beaten in a one-mile maiden special weight race for California-bred 2-year-old fillies on turf on Saturday at Santa Anita – until she reached the eighth pole.
Ridden by Joe Bravo, Vivacious Vanessa closed from fourth through the final furlong to win by 1 1/2 lengths at odds of 7-2 for owner Thomas Nichols and trainer Gary Mandella.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Brice Blanc, who has not ridden since August 2020 after suffering injuries in a spill at Del Mar, has postponed his return to riding until later this month.
Blanc, 48, had hoped to return to riding last weekend, but said a return sometime in the next two weeks is more reasonable.
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ARCADIA, Calif. – There will be some anxious moments for the people behind Beer Can Man and Degree of Risk next week prior to the announcement of pre-entries for two Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.
Beer Can Man, a 3-year-old colt who is a candidate for the Turf Sprint on Nov. 6, and Degree of Risk, who is being pointed to the Juvenile Turf on Nov. 5, each placed in a graded stakes in his last start and may need to be chosen by a panel of racing executives to get into the Breeders’ Cup.
ARCADIA, Calif. - After a 2021 season defined by success on turf, Warren’s Showtime may switch surfaces next month following her win in Saturday’s $100,500 California Distaff Handicap on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.
Trainer Craig Lewis said Sunday that the 4-year-old Warren’s Showtime is a candidate for the $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes for statebred fillies and mares at seven furlongs on dirt at Del Mar on Nov. 7.
“We’ll have to see how she comes out of it,” Lewis said. “She has remarkably terrific recuperating power.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Tripoli, winner of the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar in August, will be ridden for the first time by Irad Ortiz Jr. in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 6, trainer John Sadler said Sunday.
Tiago Pereira rode Tripoli for five starts from early May to earlier this month. Pereira was aboard Tripoli in the Pacific Classic when the 4-year-old colt won by 1 1/2 lengths.
Sam Houston Race Park has increased the purse of the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic to $400,000 from $300,000 and renamed the $200,000 Texas Turf Mile for the late racing executive Bob Bork, the track announced. The changes are the most significant to the $2.2 million stakes schedule for the meet that opens Jan. 6.
Welder is already slacking off in retirement.
The millionaire and three-time Oklahoma-bred of the year was enjoying a late morning nap Saturday at his farm base near Tulsa. One day earlier, Welder closed out his career with a third-place finish in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint at Remington Park.
It was decided ahead of time that the 8-year-old would be retired following the start. He will be let down from racing, and eventually become a stable pony for his owner, Ra-Max Farms, and his trainer, Theresa Luneack.
Mr. Wireless emerged from the Oklahoma Derby with a minor physical setback and will return to the races next year at 4, according to his trainer, Bret Calhoun.
Mr. Wireless finished an uncharacteristic fifth in last month’s Grade 3, $400,000 race at Remington Park and was found to have a small bone chip in one of his knees. Prior to the Oklahoma Derby he won back-to-back stakes, taking the Grade 3 Indiana Derby in July and the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby in August.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Bella Sofia, the New York-based 3-year-old filly who likely will be second choice behind Gamine in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 6, will ship to California in time to get one work over Del Mar’s main track, trainer Rudy Rodriguez said Friday.
On Friday, Bella Sofia worked five furlongs in 1:01.54 over Belmont’s main track in company with the New York-bred Trinni Luck. Rodriguez said he plans to work her one more time at Belmont and then ship to California on Oct. 23.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Life Is Good, among the top 3-year-olds in training, and Malathaat, the clear leader of the 3-year-old filly division, led a quintet of Todd Pletcher-trained Breeders’ Cup hopefuls who put in workouts Friday morning over Belmont Park’s training track.
Life Is Good, the likely favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 6 at Del Mar, went a half-mile by himself in 49.08 seconds, but his gallop-out of 1:01.72, 1:13.50 and 1:26.22 is what truly impressed.
