As expected, Shooting Star Thoroughbreds LLC has announced that Florida champion Chance It has been retired after sustaining a second soft tissue injury during the running of the Kelso Handicap last Saturday at Belmont Park.
Chance It had previously been sidelined 14 months after being diagnosed with a similar injury following the 2020 Tampa Bay Derby.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Arrest Me Red, who is 3 for 3 sprinting on turf, starts against eight rivals in the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational at six furlongs.
Trainer Wesley Ward was between entering Arrest Me Red and the filly Campanelle in the race for 3-year-olds and up, and opted for Arrest Me Red, a 3-year-old colt. Arrest Me Red is coming off a victory going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in the Mahony Stakes at Saratoga.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Chad Brown has won seven of the last nine runnings of the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes, and he will send out two of the six runners in Saturday’s renwal of the 1 1/16-mile turf race for juvenile fillies.
Brown will start McKulick, a debut winner at Saratoga on Aug. 8, and Kinchen, runner-up to Hail To in an Aug. 29 maiden race.
Hail To, trained by Tom Albertrani, was entered in the Miss Grillo as were Charlee O and Philly Eagles.
ELMONT, N.Y. – In 2020, Jackie’s Warrior followed his Grade 1 victory in the Hopeful with a Grade 1 victory in the Champagne.
Steve Asmussen, who trains Jackie’s Warrior, is hoping for history to repeat itself when he sends out Hopeful winner Gunite in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne with a berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on the line.
Gunite, a son of Gun Runner, will be making the sixth start of his juvenile campaign in the Champagne, a one-turn mile race.
ELMONT, N.Y. – By My Standards was not entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park after being diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection following his most recent workout, trainer Bret Calhoun said Wednesday.
The issue most likely takes By My Standards out of consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Calhoun said. By My Standards, still in search of a Grade 1 victory, will point to the Grade 1 Clark on Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs or the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Dec. 4 at Aqueduct, Calhoun said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – To say Pro Quality is the big horse in trainer Ralph Catanese’s barn has little to do with his victory in last Saturday’s Wildcat Heir Stakes. That’s because Pro Quality is the only horse in the barn for Catanese, whose roots trace back to New England before he settled on the local circuit along with his brother, trainer Joe Catanese, nearly 40 years ago.
A new pick three with a $3 minimum and a 15 percent takeout will debut at the Keeneland fall meet that starts next Friday (Oct. 8).
The Keeneland Turf Pick 3 will link the last three turf races every day. The races will not be run consecutively so as to separate the new wager from rolling pick threes.
:: Shop for Keeneland: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, and more
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tacitus was intended to make his comeback in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but what’s a few weeks to a 5-year-old horse who has already knocked out more than $3.7 million?
Withheld from the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 4 at Saratoga because of what his connections termed a “minor issue,” Tacitus will make his first start since the Saudi Cup on Feb. 20 when facing heavily favored Knicks Go in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lukas Classic on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Flightline, the brilliant and unseasoned colt who earned a 114 Beyer Speed Figure winning an allowance sprint by more than 12 lengths in his second start, will target the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, trainer John Sadler confirmed Wednesday morning.
The announcement ends premature speculation Flightline was under consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
Laurel River won an allowance race at Del Mar so impressively in his two-turn debut earlier this month that trainer Bob Baffert initially entertained thoughts of running in the Grade 1, $300,000 Awesome Again on Saturday at Santa Anita, but upon further review a more patient approach will be taken with the late-developing 3-year-old son of Into Mischief, Baffert said Tuesday.
