ARCADIA, Calif. - Dr. Schivel, second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar in November, worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday for a scheduled start in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Stakes at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on March 26.
Trained by Mark Glatt, Dr. Schivel has not raced since he finished last of seven in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs on Dec. 26. He was diagnosed with an illness following that race.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Hit the Road, the winner of the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile in 2021 and three other stakes, has been turned out at a farm in central California and is not expected to resume racing until the Del Mar summer meeting, trainer Dan Blacker said.
“He’ll get a couple of months,” Blacker said. “It’s nothing major. He needs a freshening now and then.”
Hit the Road, 5, finished eighth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 29, 3 1/2 lengths behind winner Colonel Liam, in his first start since October.
ARCADIA, Calif. - In a strict economic sense, sending Ouraika from Maryland to California for Saturday’s $102,500 Sweet Life Stakes was a gamble.
The winner’s share was $60,000 - a decent sum, but an amount that goes fast when travel fees and other costs are included. The risk, however, had its rewards when Ouraika rallied from fifth in the final furlong to win the Grade 3 race by a head.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Mike Maker and his owners have certainly gotten with the program.
In a span of 24 hours, at Aqueduct, Maker won a trio of races with New York-bred 3-year-old colts, capped by Barese’s 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Gander Stakes. On Friday, Maker won statebred races with Rotknee and Pineapple Man.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine has announced its 2022 stakes schedule that includes the usual major races, with the exception of the Grade 1 Canadian International.
The International was scrapped in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned last year while moved up to the Woodbine Mile undercard, with the hope of luring more European runners, but has gone on hiatus again.
Senor Buscador, a past winner of the Springboard Mile at Remington Park, had been training forwardly for a return to the races, but that will now be delayed, trainer Todd Fincher said.
Senor Buscador has not raced since finishing fifth in last year’s Risen Star at Fair Grounds.
“We had him back going great,” Fincher said last week from Sunland Park. “He had a stall incident. He got infection in his hock. He’s been out.
“I couldn’t wait for him to come back. He’s probably the most talented horse I’ve ever trained. He’s just amazing.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park made a significant schedule change this season by opening its meet in December, and after discussions with multiple parties track president Lou Cella said Oaklawn plans to ask for December race dates for 2022.
“We’re for sure committed to do it another year, and we’ll just see where it takes us,” Cella said Wednesday.
Oaklawn opened Dec. 4 and will race through May 8. The opening was its earliest in history, and Cella collected feedback from a host of industry stakeholders to judge fan participation and horse participation.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When jockey Aisla Morrison won for the fifth time here last Sunday, she was supposed to go from being a 10-pound apprentice to a seven-pound apprentice. However, she is now listed as a five-pound apprentice due to an interpretation of the rules by the New York stewards.
Braulio Baeza Jr., the New York Gaming Commission steward, said that since Morrison received her jockey’s certificate at Woodbine in 2019, New York will follow Canada’s rules. Baeza said in Canada jockeys go from being a 10-pound apprentice to a five-pound apprentice.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Empty Tomb was scheduled to return to trainer Robert Falcone’s barn Friday following his last-place finish in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 29.
Though Empty Tomb was an 88-1 longshot in the Pegasus, it didn’t help that he exited the race with a foot issue.
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainers starting out are always looking for a horse that will get them noticed. Natalia Lynch seemed to have found that horse in Eloquent Speaker.
Lynch claimed Eloquent Speaker for $45,000 on Dec. 11. Six days later Eloquent Speaker won a first-level allowance. Sixteen days after that, Eloquent Speaker finished second, beaten just a neck, in the La Verdad Stakes.
