NEW ORLEANS - The connections of Indygo Mountain can only hope Round 2 of the Fair Grounds 3-year-old stakes series goes better than Round 1. It hardly could be worse.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Though he demonstrated the ability to come from off the pace in winning the Count Fleet Stakes last out, Haynesfield may be better served reverting to his front-running tactics when he heads a six-horse field entered for Saturday's $100,000 Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Dixie Chatter's best race at 2 was a win in the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes on a synthetic track at Santa Anita. His best performance at 3 was a victory in the Oceanside Stakes on turf.
When he makes his 4-year-old debut in Saturday's $250,000 Strub Stakes at Santa Anita, Dixie Chatter returns to a synthetic surface for the first time since last June.
His presence on a synthetic track is not a season-defining decision on surfaces, trainer Richard Mandella said. He admits to not knowing which surface is best for Dixie Chatter.
NEW ORLEANS - Each winter, 3-year-olds with obvious talent winter at Fair Grounds and emerge from the Louisiana Derby as contenders for the Triple Crown. If the massive colt with the rich chestnut coat that walked into Barn 26 on the Fair Grounds backstretch after a routine gallop Wednesday morning takes that path, it will be under unusual circumstances.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The thrill of victory turned into the agony of losing a Kentucky Derby candidate for trainer Eddie Kenneally after it was discovered that Saratoga Sinner, winner of Saturday's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, had suffered a chip in his left knee that will require surgery.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jon Court's mug will be everywhere on Friday. He will spend the afternoon riding at Oaklawn, then later that night will be seen on Animal Planet in the new reality series "Jockeys," which debuts at 9 p.m. Eastern. The series was shot in Southern California, where Court had been based the last five years. This past month, however, he and his family decided to return to the Midwest, and in the spring Court will be based in Kentucky.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Saratoga Sinner, winner of Saturday's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, came out of the race with a chip in his left knee and is off the Kentucky Derby trail.
Saratoga Sinner, a son of Harlan's Holiday, is trained by Eddie Kenneally for the Lally Stable. A winner of a maiden race going nine furlongs earlier in the meet, Saratoga Sinner earned a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in the nine-furlong Holy Bull.
ARCADIA, Calif. - If he is not the top 3-year-old in California, he is the top one missing from the Kentucky Derby early nominations list. Mr. Hot Stuff's convincing maiden win Sunday in his fifth start catapulted the full brother to Colonel John onto the Derby trail, even if the first deadline for Derby nominations has come and gone.