Sun, 08/15/2021 - 17:06

Letruska heading to Saratoga, targets Personal Ensign Stakes

Coady Photography
Letruska's triumph in the Fleur de Lis was worth $3.40 at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Letruska, the leading older female in the country, is expected to ship to Saratoga on Tuesday and will have her final work on Thursday for the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes here Aug. 28, trainer Fausto Gutierrez said Sunday.

Letruska had been based at Keeneland since her victory in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs, but last week, due to some stabling issues, Gutierrez moved his stable from Keeneland to Monmouth Park. Letruska and Vegas Weekend - who is entered in a $50,000 claiming race on Thursday at Saratoga - are expected to van from Monmouth on Tuesday.

Sun, 08/15/2021 - 17:01

Midnight Bourbon breezes five furlongs, may start in Travers

Emily Shields
Midnight Bourbon hasn’t raced since being run down by Rombauer and finishing second in the Preakness. Midnight Bourbon worked a bullet five furlongs at Churchill on Sunday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It has been four weeks since Midnight Bourbon clipped heels with Hot Rod Charlie, stumbled and unseated his rider, Paco Lopez, in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in a scary-looking incident.

Sun, 08/15/2021 - 16:03

Got Stormy will likely point to Ladies Sprint as next start

Debra A. Roma
Got Stormy was given a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for her triumph in Saturday's Fourstardave at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Mark Casse does not see the ideal race for Got Stormy to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

He doesn’t believe Got Stormy can get a mile at Woodbine, so the Woodbine Mile is out. There is no turf at Churchill Downs this fall. The Keeneland turf course in the fall is usually softer than Got Stormy prefers, so the First Lady may not be an option.

So, Casse will likely cut Got Stormy back in distance to 6 1/2 furlongs and point to the $600,000 Ladies Sprint at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 11.

Sun, 08/15/2021 - 15:14

High Oak, Speaker's Corner give Mott solid day

Barbara D. Livingston
High Oak received a 90 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in the Saratoga Special on Saturday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When High Oak drew off to a very convincing 4 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Saratoga Special, the performance capped a very special half-hour for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, coming as it did on the heels of perhaps an even more impressive effort by his highly regarded 3-year-old prospect Speaker’s Corner in the previous race.

Sat, 08/14/2021 - 13:45

Essential Quality, Keepmeinmind tune up for Travers

Barbara D. Livingston
Keepmeinmind, with exercise rider Dennis Means up, works a half-mile in 47.74 seconds on Saturday at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Essential Quality and Keepmeinmind, separated by a half-length when finishing 1-2 in the Jim Dandy Stakes, returned to the work tab Saturday morning at Saratoga. To hear their respective trainers tell it, the hard race both had three weeks ago only served to propel their 3-year-olds forward as they prepare for their rematch in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers on Aug. 28.

Fri, 08/13/2021 - 15:06

Gufo on schedule for Sword Dancer

Barbara D. Livingston
Gufo works five furlongs in 1:02.19 on Friday over the Oklahoma turf course.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Multiple stakes winner Gufo stepped up his preparations for a start in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes when he worked five furlongs in 1:02.19 Friday over the Oklahoma turf course.

With Joel Rosario up, Gufo started two lengths behind Sitting Pretty, tracked that one through an opening quarter in 26.94 seconds, tipped outside in upper stretch, and finished to the wire on even terms and went a furlong past the wire where the work was timed. It was his third work since July 31.

Fri, 08/13/2021 - 15:00

Alvarado gets three days for careless riding

Coady Photography
Jockey Junior Alvarado will serve a three-day suspension Wednesday through Friday next week.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The stewards handed jockey Junior Alvarado a three-day careless riding suspension for his ride aboard runner-up Annex in the Grade 2 National Museum and Hall of Fame Stakes.

Annex in midstretch came in on Original, who under Luis Saez took up and was pulled up and did not finish the race. The stewards looked at the incident, but decided not to take action in part because it didn’t affect the parimutuel outcome of the race.

Alvarado, who did not appeal, will serve the days Wednesday through Friday.

Fri, 08/13/2021 - 14:50

Rocketry retired from racing

Barbara D. Livingston
Rocketry, who won his last race in the 2020 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Marathon at Keeneland, has been retired.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rocketry, a multiple track-record holder at marathon distances and earner of $811,577, has been retired, his owner, Centennial Farms Inc., announced Thursday in a press release.

Rocketry, a 7-year-old son of Hard Spun, finished a well-beaten fourth in the Birdstone Stakes on Aug. 5, his third double-digit-length defeat this year.

Fri, 08/13/2021 - 14:50

David Flores making brief return to racing saddle

Barbara D. Livingston
David Flores (left) works horses for trainer Wesley Ward on Friday morning at Saratoga. He will ride in a race on Sunday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It’s not a comeback. It’s a cameo.

David Flores, who won 3,609 races as a jockey in a career that began in 1984, will ride his first horse in a year Sunday when he climbs aboard John’s Protege in the first race at Saratoga. John’s Protege is trained by Wesley Ward, for whom Flores has been exercising horses on and off for several years, including the last two meets at Saratoga.

“I can’t help myself,” Flores, 53, said between sets Friday morning at Saratoga. “I’ve been working all these horses, I see them win, where’s mine?”

Fri, 08/13/2021 - 14:16

Rispoli to appeal suspension for ride aboard Sword Zorro in La Jolla

Benoit Photo
Sword Zorro, who started his career in his native Ireland, wins the Singletary Stakes at Santa Anita in April.

Umberto Rispoli was given a four-day suspension by Del Mar stewards on Thursday for his ride on Sword Zorro in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap on Aug. 8, a decision the jockey intends to appeal, according to his agent, Scotty McClellan.

Sword Zorro was disqualified from first to third for causing interference in the final furlong. Rispoli was suspended from Thursday through Aug. 22. The penalty would not prevent Rispoli from riding the seven graded stakes at Del Mar from Aug. 21-23 because they are designated races and are exempt from routine suspension.