INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel is battling an undisclosed illness at his Los Angeles area home, according to several people close to him, and has stayed away from the racetrack in recent weeks, leading to widespread concern among his friends and colleagues in the sport about his long-term health.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Florida Derby winner Quality Road returned to the work tab on Sunday and if his training schedule goes uninterrupted for the next month, he could return to the races the first week of the Saratoga meet, trainer Todd Pletcher said. However, Pletcher is looking more at the Grade 2, $150,000 Amsterdam Stakes for 3-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 3 than he is the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 1.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Maybe Zensational is this good.
Making his stakes debut, Zensational won the at Hollywood Park on Sunday, proving trainer Bob Baffert's confidence in the 3-year-old colt.
"I like when they run like they train," Baffert said. "He just has that brilliant speed."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Back in March, trainer Tom Albertrani knew where he wanted to spend Fourth of July weekend. Gozzip Girl had won the Herecomesthebride Stakes in mid-March, and Albertrani saw in her a candidate for the at Hollywood Park.
Nearly four months later, Gozzip Girl has done nearly everything that Albertrani and owner Myron Miller expected. She not only made it to the American Oaks, but scored the most convincing win of her career in the toughest field she had faced.
Get Thee Hence contested the pace and went on to a 3 3/4-length win over 4-5 favorite Hezamazing on Sunday in the $22,975 Front Range at Arapahoe Park. It was another 3 1/2 lengths back in third to Singin Vicar.
The top three finishers dueled into the stretch of the Front Range, the trio racing together through fractions of 22.88 seconds for the opening quarter, 45.54 for the half-mile and 1:10.71 for six furlongs. Get Thee Hence went on to cover seven furlongs in the slop in 1:24.28.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The aptly named Closeout closed out the 45-day Churchill Downs spring meet by driving to a popular three-length triumph in the Grade 3, on Sunday.
Closeout closed stoutly under Robby Albarado to win a one-mile turf race depleted by the early scratches of Tizaqueena, Leamington, and Namaste's Wish. She returned $3.60 as the solid favorite in a field of five fillies and mares.
Custom for Carlos rolled to a pacesetting 6 1/4-length win over 7-10 favorite Snapshot on Sunday in the for 3-year-old sprinters at Monmouth Park.
The second choice at 8-5, Custom for Carlos got the early jump on Snapshot, the decisive move in the four-horse field.
"My horse broke well and landed right on the lead," jockey Eddie Castro said. "This horse was going well and doing it fast."
Custom for Carlos earned his first stakes victory, improving to 3 for 6 for trainer Eddie Kenneally.
The time was 1:08.19 for the six furlongs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Mullins Beach ($8.40) upset the heavily favored Woodsmoke on Sunday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Ontario Damsel Stakes.
Woodsmoke set moderate fractions of 22.88 seconds and 45.53 in the 6 1/2-furlong turf dash. Mullins Beach stalked in second around the turn, and she joined Woodsmoke on the lead at the three-sixteenths pole.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Believing his horse was at a disadvantage in the race, trainer Todd Beattie scratched Fabulous Strike out of Sunday's Grade 2 Tom Fool Handicap at Belmont Park. Instead, Beattie will now point the 6-year-old gelding to the Grade 2, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 9.
