HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Sometimes you have to take one step back before trying to take two steps forward.
That pretty much sums up the decision trainer Ian Wilkes has made with his Kentucky Derby prospect Capt. Candyman Can, who will begin his 3-year-old campaign turning back to seven furlongs for the Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes on Jan. 30 after making his final three starts at 2 at distances of a mile or longer.
Would it be going too far to say that trainer Larry Jones is kind of loaded?
Old Fashioned, surely one of the top 3-year-old prospects in the land, had his second timed workout of 2009 on Sunday at Fair Grounds, and he is only one of several stakes-class Jones-trained 3-year-olds in New Orleans. It Happened Again rebounded from a disappointing performance in the Sugar Bowl Stakes on Dec. 20 at Fair Grounds and scored an impressive two-length win Friday night in the Triple Sec Stakes at Delta.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The Pamplemousse, who joined the list of California-based Triple Crown contenders with a victory in the Grade 3 San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita last Saturday, is likely to have only one race before the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 4.
Trainer Julio Canani is taking a cautious approach to The Pamplemousse's campaign, citing the need to give a growing colt time to develop.
"I don't want to run him too much," Canani said. "He's developing mentally and physically. He's awkward because he's growing and growing."
The California Derby at Golden Gate last Saturday left two trainers pleased and one scratching his head, but all are looking ahead to the Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby on Feb. 14.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer would like to run the California Derby winner, Chocolate Candy, in the El Camino Real and Santa Anita Derby in preparation for the Kentucky Derby.
O.J. Jauregui was satisfied with Merus Miami's third-place finish after the colt raced wide on both turns and was bothered when Feisty Suances came out and crowded him at the start.
ARCADIA, Calif.-Six months ago, Artiste Royal was battling a splint bone injury in the weeks following his win in the Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Handicap at Hollywood Park. Owners Dave and Jill Heerensperger and trainer Neil Drysdale considered retiring the horse to stud, but no deals could be reached on the worldwide market.
Artiste Royal recovered from his injury, and went back into training. Monday at Santa Anita, he further enhanced his status as a leading turf horse in California by winning his third graded stakes in the last 18 months in the $150,000 San Marcos Stakes.
Led by Delightful Kiss, who comes off a victory in the Hal's Hope at Gulfstream Park, an overflow field of 15 was entered on Monday in the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream Park, the highlight of the eight-race, coast-to-coast event on Saturday.
The Classic is one of four Sunshine Millions races that will be run at Gulfstream Park. The other four races, including the $500,000 Turf, will be run at Santa Anita. Total prize money is $3.6 million.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The decision is in regarding Einstein's 2009 debut. It will come Jan. 31 in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap instead of in quest of his third victory in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf the following afternoon.
Trainer Helen Pitts confirmed the choice after Einstein worked five furlongs in 1:03 over the Gulfstream main track.
A contract dispute over simulcasting revenue between the Thoroughbred Owners of California and tracks owned by Churchill Downs led the owners' group to withdraw permission to send the Santa Anita betting signal on Monday to at least two major Churchill-owned venues, officials of Santa Anita and the owners' group said.
The simulcasting networks at Arlington Park, near Chicago, and Fair Grounds in New Orleans were cut off, as were satellites linked with those racetracks. The extent of the blackout to other Churchill-owned tracks or simulcasting networks was not immediately known.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Flat Out emerged as a 3-year-old to watch this spring at Oaklawn Park when he launched an explosive move going into the stretch en route to a 3 1/2-length win over Silver Bayer in the $50,000 Smarty Jones on Monday. It was another 1 1/4 lengths back to Gresham in third.
The one-mile race for 3-year-olds served as a prep for the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 16.
Hawthorne Race Course bucked declining national handle trends, eking out a slight year-to-year increase in total average daily handle during a fall-winter race meet that concluded Jan. 12.
That increase, though, was accompanied by a continued erosion of ontrack customers betting on Hawthorne races, the type of wagering that generates the highest percentage returns for track operators and horsemen.
