Thu, 08/12/2021 - 13:30

Golden Pal travelling to York for Nunthorpe Stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
Golden Pal wins the Quick Call at Saratoga on July 15.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Wesley Ward said his 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal was scheduled to depart Kentucky for England on Thursday evening and will make his next start at York in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes on Aug. 20.

Thu, 08/12/2021 - 13:26

Army Wife will face the big girls in Alabama

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Mike Maker confirmed Thursday he intends to run the steadily improving Army Wife in next Saturday’s Grade 1 Alabama at 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-old fillies.

Thu, 08/12/2021 - 11:36

Hard to Deny works his way into Longacres Mile

Four-Footed Fotos
Five Star General (foreground) will try to punch his ticket to the Longacres Mile when he runs at Hastings on Tuesday.

Last week trainer Chris Stenslie said she was probably not going to run Hard to Deny in the Grade 3, $100,000 Longacres Mile, which drew 11 horses and will be run as the eighth race Sunday at Emerald Downs.

But after watching how well Hard to Deny trained this week, she changed her mind, and on Wednesday entered him in the Mile. A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Hard Spun, Hard to Deny will break from post 4 with leading rider Anthony Cruz aboard. He replaces Juan Gutierrez, who will ride the Peter Miller-trained Anyportinastorm.

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 15:06

With two turns in his future, Glacial takes off the blinkers for Saratoga Special

Coady Photography
Glacial wins a maiden race at Churchill Downs on May 29.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A speedy 2-year-old is not a bad thing to have when you’re sprinting. Norm Casse is hoping to harness the speed Glacial has shown when he removes the blinkers from the colt’s equipment when he goes 6 1/2 furlongs in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special.

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 14:56

Trio of mares take on the boys in Fourstardave

Barbara D. Livingston
Got Stormy works under Tyler Gaffalione on the Oklahoma turf course Aug. 1 for Saturday’s Fourstardave.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Got Stormy beat the boys in the Grade 1 Fourstardave here in 2019 and finished second in the race in 2020. She is back for a third straight appearance in the Fourstardave, but she won’t be the only female starter in the one-mile, $500,000 turf race Saturday at Saratoga.

The mares Blowout and Daddy Is a Legend also were entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Fourstardave, which offers its winner a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 14:36

Modesty win puts Naval Laughter in field for Beverly D.

Coady Photography
Naval Laughter wins the Modesty at Arlington on July 17 in her turf debut.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – When Naval Laughter came back from a 1 1/2-year layoff and won an Arlington Polytrack allowance race June 3 by nearly 20 lengths, earning a graded stakes-class 96 Beyer, the performance felt fluky. And Naval Laughter did nothing to dispel that notion when, three weeks later, she finished a well-beaten second as the odds-on favorite in an Arlington first-level allowance race.

Yet there was Naval Laughter winning the Grade 3 Modesty by a half-length on July 17 and earning a shot Saturday in the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes.

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 14:26

Rivelli takes first and last shot at Mister D. Stakes

Coady Photography
Trained by Larry Rivelli, Bizzee Channel wins the Arlington Stakes last month to earn a spot in the Mister D. Stakes.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Larry Rivelli won his first Arlington training title in 2014 and will win his eighth straight this season. He has been not just a perennial leading trainer at the meet, but an utterly dominant one. His 55 wins this season are 35 more than the next-highest training total. In 2020, he won the title with 43 winners to 16 for the runner-up. In 2019, the spread was 78-24, in 2018 it was 76-26, and so on and so forth.

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 14:16

Kyle Frey aiming for top-five finish at meet

Coady Photography
Kyle Frey ranked sixth in the Del Mar trainer standings through Sunday.

Kyle Frey, the leading rider at the Golden Gate meeting earlier this year, has been riding at Del Mar and plans to stay in Southern California after the meeting ends Sept. 6 if he finishes in the top five in the standings.

“I’m thinking of sticking around,” he said last weekend. “It depends on how business goes for the rest of the meet.”

Through Sunday, Frey ranked sixth with eight wins, well behind leader Flavien Prat, who has 21 wins. Joe Bravo, who relocated from New Jersey earlier this summer, is fifth with nine wins.

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 14:16

Maker horses sticking around through Breeders' Cup

Barbara D. Livingston
Mike Maker said he will have 15-20 horses at the Santa Anita fall meeting.

Trainer Mike Maker will keep a stable at Santa Anita this fall.

Maker has a small stable at Del Mar this summer and will continue to race in California through the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar, he said. Santa Anita’s autumn meeting runs from Oct. 1-31.

Maker said he will have 15 to 20 horses at Santa Anita. Through Sunday, Maker had won with 2 of 10 runners at the Del Mar meeting, which runs through Sept. 6.

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 14:10

Arklow one good work away from coming for Del Mar Handicap

Emily Shields
Arklow, at Monmouth Park for the United Nations Stakes, works Friday at Saratoga. If Arklow satisfies trainer Brad Cox, he will head to Del Mar for the Aug. 21 Del Mar Handicap.

Arklow will start in the $300,000 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 21 provided he works well at Saratoga on Friday, trainer Brad Cox said Wednesday.

If he runs, the start will be the third for Arklow in California and would prepare the millionaire 7-year-old for another trip to the West Coast for the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

“It will be a maintenance work, and we’ll check him the day after,” Cox said. “We’ll do a little more homework on the race.”