Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Aloha West’s winter break in Kentucky has ended, and the 5-year-old horse currently is tack-walking with trainer Wayne Catalano at Fair Grounds.
“We just got a little weight on him, but we can get that off easy. He looks really good, and we’re happy to have him back in the barn,” said Catalano, who was headed to the Chicago area this weekend for the impending birth of a granddaughter.
In early January, trainer Robertino Diodoro elected to move 3-year-old filly Dream Lith from Oaklawn to Fair Grounds, concerned that wintry weather in Arkansas could interrupt Dream Lith’s preparation for her 2022 debut.
“The way her schedule is, we didn’t have any room for missed training, so we had to make this call,” Diodoro said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With four weeks between major stakes days at Gulfstream – the Holy Bull, which was to be run here Saturday, and the Fountain of Youth on March 5 – the highlights next weekend are a pair of five-furlong turf stakes for older horses.
The Grade 3, $100,000 Gulfstream Turf Sprint and the $100,000 Ladies’ Turf Sprint are the Saturday highlights.
Carotari and Diamond Oops look like the top contenders in the Turf Sprint, while Miss J McKay enters the Ladies’ Sprint in peak form.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – This is the first winter Jeff Hiles has spent in Florida, and he’s trying to make the most of it. Hiles, 42, began training on his own in November 2018 after lengthy stints under Kenny McPeek and his father, Rick Hiles.
“I looked up and saw Sam Houston is canceled, Turfway is canceled,” said Hiles, a former Marine who previously spent the wintertime in Kentucky, Arkansas, and other chillier climates. “We’re here enjoying the sunshine and 80 degrees.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Pass the Champagne returned with flying colors by winning an allowance race Thursday at Gulfstream Park, although the 4-year-old filly’s clocking was nearly two seconds slower than what a Florida-bred 3-year-old ran earlier on the card.
Trainer George Weaver said he expects Pass the Champagne to use the 2 1/4-length victory in the seven-furlong race as foundation toward more important engagements.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Thursday’s final race at Aqueduct was canceled due to heavy fog and made for confusion on the payout for the pick six, for which there were two live tickets, each worth $139,510, entering the final leg.
The last race was declared an all-win for the pick six, as well as other multirace wagers.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has canceled racing from Friday through Sunday due to a winter storm in the region, according to track spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyt.
Oaklawn will make up the lost dates on March 17, March 24, and March 31.
The Grade 3, $250,000 Bayakoa for fillies and mares was the feature for Saturday and it will now be run next Saturday, Feb. 12. Hoyt said the race will be redrawn and be part of the same card as the Grade 3, $600,000 Razorback Handicap.
Sam Houston Race Park has canceled Thursday night’s card due to inclement weather, according to track publicist Martha Claussen.
There is winter weather expected Thursday night in Houston. Some areas of the state received snow overnight.
Sam Houston has received Texas Racing Commission approval to move Thursday’s nine-race card in its entirety to Wednesday, Feb. 9. First post will be 4 p.m. Central.
The track on Thursday morning was making decisions on the status of simulcast operations that evening.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Ed Maier, a longtime racing fan, breeder and racing-syndicate executive, died Jan. 26 at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. He was 71.
Maier, president of Elevated Bloodstock, purchased his first racehorse in 1978. According to his son Scott, Maier owned or bred more than 200 Thoroughbreds that raced in California and Western Canada. He was instrumental in Flavien Prat obtaining his P1 Visa to ride in the U.S.
