ARCADIA, Calif. - Messier, runner-up in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 11, and Sir London, a romping maiden winner at Los Alamitos in his last start Dec. 4, both worked Sunday morning for an anticipated meeting one week later in the Grade 3, $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
The Lewis offers 17 qualifying points overall, including 10 to the winner, toward the Kentucky Derby on May 7.
Sunday’s nine-race card at Aqueduct has been canceled due to the winter storm that dumped approximately a foot of snow on the New York City area Saturday. The storm was to continue through 4 p.m.
It is the fifth cancellation of the meet.
The $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes for 3-year-olds scheduled for Sunday will be rescheduled for Feb. 6.
Aqueduct was to be open for simulcasting on Sunday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Aqueduct’s nine-race Saturday card was canceled due to a nor’easter that was expected to bring significant snow, strong winds, and low wind-chill values to the New York metropolitan area throughout the day.
A decision on whether Aqueduct will be open for simulcasting will be made Saturday morning.
Training at Belmont Park was canceled for Saturday. The racing office will not take entries for Saturday for Thursday as per the regular schedule. Instead, double entries will be taken Sunday for the Thursday and Friday cards.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mo Donegal, Giant Game, and Tiz the Bomb are among the accomplished 3-year-olds expected next Saturday when Gulfstream Park kicks off its annual Road to the Florida Derby series with the Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull.
Mo Donegal was scheduled for a final pre-race breeze this weekend at trainer Todd Pletcher’s winter base at Palm Beach Downs. It was to be the sixth timed work for the Uncle Mo colt since he won the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct in early December.
The final three furlongs of the $102,000 Eddie Logan Stakes was a mess for the European import Maglev, who overcame traffic on the turn to finish second after closing along the inside.
Cabo Spirit won the race by 1 1/4 lengths, benefiting from a trouble-free wide trip. Trainer Mark Glatt was left to wonder what Maglev would have done with a better journey.
Asked Thursday if Maglev could have won, Glatt was quick with a response.
“I’m a little biased,” he said. “I think so.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Frank Gabriel Jr. has been appointed senior vice president of racing operations for the New York Racing Association, replacing Martin Panza, the company announced in a press release Thursday. Gabriel will assume his new duties on Feb. 3.
Panza and NYRA parted ways last fall after eight years.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Backsideofthemoon was forced to leave the grounds of Belmont Park on Wednesday, owing to a rule the New York Racing Association put in place last April that forbids horses age 10 or older to stable or race at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, or Saratoga. Backsideofthemoon officially became a 10-year-old on New Year’s Day.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When jockey Mike Luzzi guided R Doc to victory at Aqueduct in a maiden $40,000 claimer on Jan. 16, it was the 3,553rd win of his career and the 35th consecutive year in which he has ridden at least one winner.
Though the wins are fewer and farther between than they once were, the desire Luzzi has to continue to ply his trade has not waned. Even at age 52.
Two Emmys was beaten as the favorite Saturday in the Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes, but he ran well in defeat and should be set up for strong showings next month in the Fair Grounds Stakes and in the Muniz Memorial in March.
Making his first start since a close second-place finish in the 1 1/2-mile Sycamore Stakes during Keeneland’s meet in October, Two Emmys shot to the front under James Graham and led, racing along the inside, until the final couple jumps, when Forty Under and Halo Again passed him. He wound up third, beaten a half-length, with a respectable 95 Beyer.
The day after Trafalgar finished fourth in the Jan. 22 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds, his trainer, Al Stall Jr., said Trafalgar was off the trail to the Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds.
Another day of assessment, however, had Stall and Trafalgar’s owner, the Columbine Stable, reconsidering.
“We might still try the Risen Star,” Stall said.
