DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Phil D’Amato has had plenty of success with European imports in recent years and hopes to have another nugget in Shut Up Michael, a maiden who makes his first U.S. start in Sunday’s fifth race at Del Mar after finishing third in his lone prior start at Sandown Park in Great Britain.

“He’s a high-energy horse. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to get him to settle, get used to his surroundings and how we do things here,” D’Amato said Friday morning. “In terms of being a runner, he shows a lot of promise.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – Art Sherman, whose career spanned from Kentucky Derby winners Swaps to California Chrome, is retiring at the end of the year and was feted by Del Mar on Thursday with a brief winner’s circle ceremony and video tribute.

Sherman, 84, trained California Chrome to a pair of Horse of the Year titles, in 2014, when he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and 2016, when his wins included the Dubai World Cup, Pacific Classic, and Awesome Again.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Larry Jones, best known for his three Kentucky Oaks wins and as the trainer of the ill-fated Eight Belles, said the 2022 spring meet at Churchill will be his last one with outside clients and that he will continue training on a much smaller scale as he moves permanently to Henderson, Ky., for the Ellis Park summer meet and beyond.

“Don’t know if I’ll ever leave town after that,” Jones, 65, said with a laugh. “It’s been a great run.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Envoutante, who became the first horse in 30 years to win the Falls City in back-to-back years by dominating the Grade 2 race again Thursday, will have the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park next April as the first major goal of a 5-year-old campaign, trainer Ken McPeek said early Friday. The Uncle Mo filly earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for her six-length romp in the slop.

“If she hadn’t run as well as she did, we probably would’ve had her bred,” McPeek said. “But she gave every indication she could be a top horse next year, so we’ll keep going with her.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The curtain comes down on the Churchill Downs fall meet Sunday, but not without Steve Asmussen making sure everybody knows who’s No. 1.

Three-plus months after becoming the all-time winningest trainer in North American racing history with his 9,446th career winner, Asmussen set what is believed to be a record for a single card at Churchill by sending out five winners from just seven starters here Thursday. Those horses were Generator ($5.60), Front Street ($2.80), Regal Retort ($6.60), Treaty of Paris ($21), and All In Sync ($5.80).

A year ago, Whizkey Glasses was proving difficult to break as a yearling. Owner Matt Dunn recalled earlier this month that Whizkey Glasses was so cantankerous that he had to be sedated to be shod.

Whizkey Glasses was a colt then. Whizkey Glasses is now a gelding.

A year removed from those antics and well into his racing career, Whizkey Glasses has a chance to become the first horse to win the Golden State Million and Los Alamitos Two Million futurities since the filly Flash and Roll in 2018.

Golden Gate Fields will increase purses from 12 percent to 30 percent for claiming and starter allowance races for the winter-spring meeting, which begins on Dec. 26, the track announced.

The higher purses are focused on claimers, maiden claimers and starter allowance races.

Races will receive across-the-board $3,000 increases. A $40,000 claiming race will increase from $25,000 to $28,000, or 12 percent, while a $3,200 claimer will be worth $13,000, a 30 percent hike from the current level of $10,000.

Despite sending a string to Colonial Downs for the first time in her career, necessitated by Churchill Downs closing its backstretch during summer turf-course construction, trainer Michelle Lovell is wrapping up the best year of a training career that began in 2003.

Mystic Guide, one of the best 4-year-old dirt-route horses of 2021, is gearing up for a 5-year-old campaign in 2022.

A Godolphin homebred trained by Michael Stidham, Mystic Guide gave Stidham the most important win of his long career when he captured the Dubai World Cup this past March. Mystic Guide, who won the Jim Dandy and was second in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at age 3, made one start following the World Cup, running second in the Suburban on July 5, before being diagnosed with a chipped knee that required surgical repair.

Loves Only You, game winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar, worked a half-mile in 53 seconds on the main track at Del Mar on Wednesday in preparation for a start in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on Dec. 12.

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