LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mark Casse isn’t promising anything on the level of Shamrock Rose, but the Hall of Fame trainer does have an optimistic eye toward the impending renewal of the Raven Run at Keeneland.
“I think we’ve got a couple of pretty good shots,” said Casse, who will send out Miss Speedy and Souper Sensational among the 10 or so 3-year-old fillies expected Saturday for the Grade 2, $250,000 Raven Run at Keeneland.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Code of Honor, the 2019 Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, will be pointed to the Grade 2, $200,000 Fayette Stakes on Oct. 30 at Keeneland, trainer Shug McGaughey said Monday. McGaughey is hoping to use the Fayette as a stepping-stone to the Grade 1, $750,000 Clark Handicap on Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Mutamakina and La Dragontea, the first- and second-place finishers in Sunday’s Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine, arrived back at trainer Christophe Clement’s Belmont Park barn Monday morning, and the trainer and his owners will now have some decisions to make in plotting out their futures.
Clement said he didn’t go into the E.P. Taylor with the idea of running either one back in three weeks in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar, but said Monday he would need to talk things over with the owners before completely ruling it out.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Vivacious Vanessa looked beaten in a one-mile maiden special weight race for California-bred 2-year-old fillies on turf on Saturday at Santa Anita – until she reached the eighth pole.
Ridden by Joe Bravo, Vivacious Vanessa closed from fourth through the final furlong to win by 1 1/2 lengths at odds of 7-2 for owner Thomas Nichols and trainer Gary Mandella.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Brice Blanc, who has not ridden since August 2020 after suffering injuries in a spill at Del Mar, has postponed his return to riding until later this month.
Blanc, 48, had hoped to return to riding last weekend, but said a return sometime in the next two weeks is more reasonable.
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ARCADIA, Calif. – There will be some anxious moments for the people behind Beer Can Man and Degree of Risk next week prior to the announcement of pre-entries for two Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.
Beer Can Man, a 3-year-old colt who is a candidate for the Turf Sprint on Nov. 6, and Degree of Risk, who is being pointed to the Juvenile Turf on Nov. 5, each placed in a graded stakes in his last start and may need to be chosen by a panel of racing executives to get into the Breeders’ Cup.
ARCADIA, Calif. - After a 2021 season defined by success on turf, Warren’s Showtime may switch surfaces next month following her win in Saturday’s $100,500 California Distaff Handicap on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.
Trainer Craig Lewis said Sunday that the 4-year-old Warren’s Showtime is a candidate for the $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes for statebred fillies and mares at seven furlongs on dirt at Del Mar on Nov. 7.
“We’ll have to see how she comes out of it,” Lewis said. “She has remarkably terrific recuperating power.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Tripoli, winner of the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar in August, will be ridden for the first time by Irad Ortiz Jr. in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 6, trainer John Sadler said Sunday.
Tiago Pereira rode Tripoli for five starts from early May to earlier this month. Pereira was aboard Tripoli in the Pacific Classic when the 4-year-old colt won by 1 1/2 lengths.
Sam Houston Race Park has increased the purse of the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic to $400,000 from $300,000 and renamed the $200,000 Texas Turf Mile for the late racing executive Bob Bork, the track announced. The changes are the most significant to the $2.2 million stakes schedule for the meet that opens Jan. 6.
Welder is already slacking off in retirement.
The millionaire and three-time Oklahoma-bred of the year was enjoying a late morning nap Saturday at his farm base near Tulsa. One day earlier, Welder closed out his career with a third-place finish in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint at Remington Park.
It was decided ahead of time that the 8-year-old would be retired following the start. He will be let down from racing, and eventually become a stable pony for his owner, Ra-Max Farms, and his trainer, Theresa Luneack.
