HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Frolic's Dream, impressive winner of the Grade 2 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream Park earlier this month, has been sold privately by Robert Murphy and Sandy Price-Murphy's Dare to Dream Farm to the Lael Stable of Roy and Gretchen Jackson. Details of the sale were not disclosed.
Frolic's Dream, a 3-year-old daughter of Smoke Glacken, was transferred from trainer Marty Wolfson's barn at Calder to Barclay Tagg at Gulfstream on Thursday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer D. Wayne Lukas's crop of 3-year-olds at Oaklawn is both growing and blossoming. Over the weekend, one of his clients purchased impressive maiden winner Hamazing Destiny. And on Sunday, the gifted Be Fair won her second race of the meet to earn a shot at stakes competition. A day later, Buzzin and Dreamin made his stakes debut, and ran a solid third in the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The deluge that struck Santa Anita earlier this week left a few soggy spots on the main track on Wednesday morning, and though many trainers decided to hold off on workouts for a second straight day, trainer Julio Canani put his top 3-year-old The Pamplemousse through a critical six-furlong drill for next week's Sham Stakes, and he could not have been more impressive.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - With barely a drop of rain having fallen in south Florida for months, the weather in the area this winter has been perfect for just about everybody, except golf course superintendents and Bob Ribaudo, who trains the multiple Grade 1 winner Grand Couturier.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Significant changes have been made to B.C. Cup Day at Hastings and the Washington Cup card at Emerald Downs this year. Three stakes on each card will be opened up to horses bred in either British Columbia or Washington.
At Hastings on Aug. 3, the $100,000 B.C. Cup Classic Challenge, the $50,000 B.C. Cup Sprint Challenge, and the $50,000 B.C. Cup Distaff Challenge have all been changed to accommodate horses bred in Washington. In 2008 they were restricted to horses bred or owned in B.C.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A third meeting between elite sprinters True Quality and Fabulous Strike will likely take place in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 4, but the connections of True Quality haven't ruled out running their horse once more before then.
True Quality defeated Fabulous Strike by 1 1/2 lengths in Monday's Grade 2 General George Handicap at Laurel Park. In December, Fabulous Strike defeated True Quality by 1 3/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Gravesend Handicap over Aqueduct's inner track.
The Arkansas Racing Commission on Saturday voted 3-1 to overturn a stewards' ruling that had disqualified Pretty Simple from first to second in a Feb. 5 maiden claiming race at Oaklawn Park and resulted in her jockey, Joe Johnson, being suspended for four days. Johnson had appealed the suspension, while Gary Hartlage, who trains Pretty Simple, had put in a request to address the commission concerning the disqualification. Both gave testimony at a commission meeting Saturday.
The action restored Pretty Simple's win and eliminated Johnson's suspension
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Ian Wilkes already has one well-regarded Kentucky Derby candidate, Capt. Candyman Can, who will be among the choices in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 28. Wilkes should have a pretty good idea if he has got a second after his undefeated Warrior's Reward takes on a loaded field of entry-level allowance rivals in Thursday's featured eighth race at Gulfstream Park.
ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer may be on the road to Kentucky again after Chocolate Candy scored a better-than-looks victory in last weekend's Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
Hollendorfer's last two El Camino winners went to the Derby - Cause to Believe (13th in the Derby in 2006) and Bwana Bull (15th in 2007).
Critics will point to the fact that Chocolate Candy only won the 1 1/8-mile race by one-half length over Massone, who just won his maiden two races back and is still eligible for a first-level allowance.