ELMONT, N.Y. – Oleksandra, who scratched out of the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes on June 5 when the Belmont turf course came up with some give in it, will try to stretch out to a mile in the Grade 3, $250,000 Poker Stakes here June 20, owner Barry Irwin said Friday.
Oleksandra, who beat the boys in the 2020 Jaipur at six furlongs, has only tried a mile once, that being a two-turn race at Del Mar in November 2018 when she set the pace and faded to ninth.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Maxfield, the Godolphin standout with six wins from seven career starts, continues to train forwardly at Keeneland in preparing for the Grade 2 Stephen Foster, which anchors the closing-day card at Churchill Downs. The 4-year-old Street Sense colt went five furlongs Friday in 1:01 in his fourth breeze since a rousing victory here April 30 in the Grade 2 Alysheba.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Swiss Skydiver won’t be home any time soon. The champion filly is scheduled to move from Belmont Park to Saratoga early this week, with trainer Ken McPeek intent on getting her back to peak health for the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on the Aug. 28 Travers card.
Normally based in Kentucky, Swiss Skydiver was supposed to run last Saturday in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on the Belmont Stakes undercard, but she was scratched after coming down with an elevated temperature the morning beforehand.
Del Mar will open its online box office for ticket sales at 10 a.m. Pacific on June 18, with options available for dining areas and reserved seats.
The track’s summer meeting runs from July 16 to Sept. 6.
Reserved seats in the grandstand range from $10 to $40, depending on the day of the week or if there are special events such as premium pricing for opening day or Pacific Classic Day on Aug. 21. The cost includes parking and admission. Reserved seats in the clubhouse range in price from $13 to $82, depending on the race day.
Los Alamitos has increased overnight purses in some categories for its upcoming summer meeting, which runs from June 25 to July 5. The increase was made possible because of gains in all-sources handle at the track’s December meeting, according to racing secretary Bob Moreno.
A maiden special weight race at the upcoming meeting will be worth $45,000, compared to $40,000 at the 2020 summer meeting and $42,000 last December.
Rock Your World, 17th in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 and sixth in the Belmont Stakes on June 5, has returned to California with an uncertain race schedule this summer.
Trainer John Sadler said Thursday that the colt’s next race “is to be determined” and that races on turf and dirt will be considered. Rock Your World was scheduled to resume training on Friday at Santa Anita.
“We’ll get him on the track to dust him off,” Sadler said.
Jockey Gerard Melancon reached a milestone of 5,000 career Thoroughbred wins on Thursday night, when he captured the eighth race at Evangeline Downs aboard Reposado.
Reposado, at 4-5, broke on top in the maiden-claiming sprint and set fractions of 22.40 seconds for the opening quarter and 47 seconds for the half-mile, before completing the 6 1/2 furlongs on a fast track in 1:19.63.
Reposado was a 5 3/4-length winner under Melancon, who was aboard for owner Charles Carlton and trainer Glenn Delahoussaye.
ELMONT, N.Y. – There will be a pick six carryover of $260,473 into Friday’s card at Belmont Park after the wager went unhit for a second consecutive program.
The carryover was triggered when Chulainn ($19.60) got up in the last two jumps to nail Voliero in the nightcap. There were two live pick six tickets, each worth $130,236.50, to Voliero.
The other winners in Thursday’s pick six sequence were Dancingwthdaffodls ($36.80), Ninth Hour ($9.20), The Last Zip ($12.20), Higher Truth ($8.30), and Jalen Journey ($5.30). The consolation payout (5 of 6) was $1,479.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Maracuja, seventh in the Kentucky Oaks, is pointing to the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes on June 26, trainer Rob Atras said Thursday.
Maracuja came off a maiden win to run second to Search Results in the Grade 3 Gazelle on April 3 to earn a spot in the Kentucky Oaks.
In the Oaks, Maracuja got off a little slow, was well off the pace, and wound up splitting the field.
ELMONT, N.Y. – The 2-year-old colt Wit made quite the auspicious career debut on Belmont Stakes Day, overcoming a slow start to win a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race by six lengths.
Wit is a son of Practical Joke and a half-brother to the Grade 3 winner Barkley owned by Mike Repole, Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable, and Gainesway Stable. He is trained by Todd Pletcher, who also sent out that race’s runner-up Keepcalmcarryon.
