HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A capacity field of 12 3-year-olds could be taking shape for the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth, a critical Kentucky Derby prep to be run at Gulfstream Park next Saturday.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, a three-time winner of the Fountain of Youth, will have at least one of the favorites for the 1 1/16-mile race in Emmanuel. Pletcher also has Mo Donegal under consideration, depending on how the colt was to work this weekend at his Palm Beach Downs winter base.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Hollis, who set a track record in December at Oaklawn, won his second allowance of the meet last week and is now poised to return to stakes competition. Trainer John Ortiz said Hollis is being pointed to the Grade 3, $200,000 Whitmore on March 19 at Oaklawn.
The horse’s long-range goal remains the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap here April 16. Ortiz said Ricardo Santana Jr., who has been riding Hollis, is committed to the horse for the remainder of Oaklawn’s meet.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Multiple Grade 2 winner Lone Rock will be moving back to a marathon distance for his next start, trainer Robertino Diodoro said Wednesday.
“We’ll wait for the Temperence Hill,” he said.
The 1 1/2-mile race is set for April 2 at Oaklawn. The purse is $150,000.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Happy Soul’s win in the $150,000 Dixie Belle last weekend at Oaklawn Park was a special victory for the family of her jockey, John Velazquez.
Trainer Wesley Ward said shortly after the stakes he got a call from the rider’s wife, Leona.
“She said ‘The race meant so much to us,’ ’’ Ward recalled. “She said, ‘My mother just died. All of us were cheering the filly. It was an upbeat moment for a sad day, because of the name, Happy Soul.’ ”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. notched the 3,000th win of his stellar riding career in North America when guiding Order and Law to a 4 1/4-length triumph in the fourth race Thursday at Gulfstream Park.
Order and Law, a 6-year-old ridgling trained by Mike Maker, raced in mid-pack in the one-mile turf race before circling rivals and drawing clear in the final furlong. He paid $7.20. The victory came some 30 minutes after Ortiz drew within one win of the milestone by riding Pirate Life ($9) to a half-length score in the day’s third race.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A pair of pick-five wagers linking major stakes at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita will be offered to racing fans for the first time next Saturday, March 5.
The new bets are the Coast to Coast All Dirt Stakes Pick 5 and the Coast to Coast All Turf Stakes Pick 5. They are being introduced by executives at 1/ST tracks as a way to “create more big events” involving the company’s two flagship tracks that host major wintertime racing, 1/ST president Aidan Butler said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – While trainer Tony Dutrow sent out his graded stakes-placed 3-year-old Un Ojo to another trainer for Saturday’s Rebel at Oaklawn Park on Tuesday, he welcomed into his Belmont barn a trio of horses he hopes will have successful campaigns in 2022.
Miss Brazil, a stakes-winning filly; High Opinion, a multiple graded stakes-placed turf horse; and Predicted, a well-bred maiden 3-year-old, all arrived back at Dutrow’s barn Sunday after vacations.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Coming off a pair of dominant, fast victories, the New York-bred Wudda U Think Now could make his next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap on April 9, trainer Rudy Rodriguez said Wednesday.
“I don’t know who is going to come, but I think he deserves a chance,” Rodriguez said.
Wudda U Think Now, a 5-year-old son of Fast Anna, won the Hollie Hughes for New York-breds last Saturday by 4 1/4 lengths. Last month, he won an open-company second-level allowance by 10 1/2 lengths. He earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure in each race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It’s been a decade since trainer Shug McGaughey has run a horse at Aqueduct in the month of March. That is expected to change next week when the Hall of Famer ships up Radio Days from South Florida for the $250,000 Busher Invitational on March 5.
Radio Days, a daughter of Gun Runner owned by Joe Allen, won a first-level allowance by 8 1/2 lengths on Dec. 2 at Aqueduct. That followed a debut victory at Belmont going six furlongs Oct. 31.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Letruska, the 2021 Eclipse champion as top older dirt female runner, will make her 6-year-old debut and be heavily favored Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Royal Delta, the highlight of the coming weekend at Gulfstream.
