Mon, 01/17/2022 - 12:30

Fromanothamutha's maiden win propels him into Gotham Stakes

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Trainer Ray Handal plans to run Constitutionlawyer (above) in the Withers on Feb. 5 and Fromanothamutha in the Gotham on March 5.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Ray Handal is planning to be represented in both of the upcoming graded stakes for 3-year-olds on this circuit.

Having already said he will run Constitutionlawyer in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers on Feb. 5, Handal said Sunday that he will point recent maiden winner Fromanothamutha to the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham on March 5.

Mon, 01/17/2022 - 12:26

10-year-old Backsideofthemoon may not be finished racing yet

Chelsea Durand/NYRA
Backsideofthemoon wins the 2020 Queens County. He will turn 10 on Jan. 1 and under a rule instututed earlier this year will not be allowed to race or stable at NYRA tracks.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Owner Charlie Hallas doesn’t want to retire Backsideofthemoon just yet.

Barred from racing Backsideofthemoon at New York Racing Association tracks, Hallas is scouring venues near and far to stable and race the 10-year-old old gelding. NYRA, last April, put in place a rule that prohibits horses 10 years old or older from stabling or racing at its three tracks – Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga.

Mon, 01/17/2022 - 11:50

Imprimis back on work tab with eye on Silks Run

Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos
Imprimis will undergo a second throat procedure. Plans call for him to race next year at age 8.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Nearly 200 horses worked over the main and Tapeta surfaces here Sunday morning, among the most noteworthy the multiple graded stakes-winning turf sprint specialist Imprimis, who breezed three furlongs in 36.40 seconds over the synthetic strip. The work was his first since returning to training following tie-back throat surgery during the fall.

Mon, 01/17/2022 - 09:46

Pasco, Gasparilla winners earn good figures, big bonuses

SV Photography
Markhamian concreta su victoria en el Pasco S.

Markhamian earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the Pasco Stakes on Saturday, while Outfoxed got a 78 Beyer for winning the filly counterpart, the Gasparilla, some 30 minutes later. Both races for 3-year-olds were run at seven furlongs.

Neither the Pasco nor Gasparilla were restricted races, but as Florida-breds, Markhamian and Outfoxed earned $105,000 for their respective owners because of statebred, winner-only bonuses of $75,000 each.

Mon, 01/17/2022 - 09:40

Wright looks to extend win streak to seven

Tom Keyser
Tampa Bay Downs has scheduled 23 stakes worth a total of $2.7 million for its 2015-16 race meet.

At first glance, the eighth race Wednesday at Tampa Bay Downs looks like your run-of-the-mill bottom-level claimer – but with trainer Michael Wright on an amazing run, the race will command special attention.

Wright has won with his first six starters of the 2021-22 meet at Tampa, and he’ll try to move his record to 7 for 7 when saddling Victor’s Destiny in the 5 1/2-furlong race for $5,000 claimers who have not won twice in the last six months.

Sun, 01/16/2022 - 16:06

Hit the Road works five furlongs in Pegasus World Cup Turf prep

Emily Shields
Hit the Road will work this weekend, then trainer Dan Blacker will make a decision on his status for the Pegasus World Cup Turf.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Hit the Road, the winner of the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile last March, zoomed five furlongs on turf in 58.42 seconds before the first race on Sunday in a workout for the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 29.

Ridden by jockey Umberto Rispoli, Hit the Road was timed in 36.14 seconds for the first three furlongs, and the final quarter-mile in a sharp 22.28 seconds. Rispoli urged Hit the Road through the final furlong.

Sun, 01/16/2022 - 15:50

Ce Ce points to Santa Monica Stakes for next start

Emily Shields
Ce Ce (inside) and Sir London work together briefly at Santa Anita on Saturday as Ce Ce completed a half-mile in 48.60 seconds.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Ce Ce, a finalist for the 2021 Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding female sprinter, is scheduled to have her 2022 debut in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 5.

Trainer Michael McCarthy considered the $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes or the Grade 2 Inside Information Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 29, but said on Sunday the local race is preferred.

“It will probably be here,” McCarthy said.

Fri, 01/14/2022 - 19:25

Mandatory-payout pick six starts with $418,627 carryover

Barbara D. Livingston
Track officials are expecting a crowd of 25,000 for Sunday's opening day of the 2021-2022 meet.

The 20-cent Rainbow pick six will have a carryover of $418,627 for Saturday’s program at Santa Anita, a day with a mandatory payout.

The pick six covers the fifth through 10th races on a program that begins at noon Pacific.

The pick six sequence includes four stakes that are part of the California Cup program for statebreds.

Track officials expect the gross pool to reach $4 million.

Fri, 01/14/2022 - 16:24

Aqueduct cancels Saturday card due to forecast for extreme cold

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Saturday’s live racing program at Aqueduct has been canceled, due to a forecast that calls for dangerously low wind chill values in the New York City metropolitan area, according to the New York Racing Association.

Temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-to-upper teens with windchill values around 0 to negative -5, at least early on Saturday. The NYRA also canceled training Saturday at Belmont Park, where all the locally based horses who race at Aqueduct are stabled.

Fri, 01/14/2022 - 14:40

Green Light Go earns a 101 Beyer; will be pointed to Carter

Barbara D. Livingston
The seven-furlong distance of the Carter should be ideal for Green Light Go.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Green Light Go, who earned a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure winning a third-level allowance race Thursday at Aqueduct, has the Grade 1 Carter in April as a likely target for the spring, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Friday.

“Unless Life Is Good or one of those horses shows up,” Jerkens said.

Green Light Go won for the first time in 11 months on Thursday, stalking a contentious early pace before taking the lead at the half-mile pole and drawing away with ease under Dylan Davis. Green Light Go ran a mile in 1:35.19.