HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Rotary has stepped up his game over the past several months, and his trainer, Don Von Hemel, said the horse could make his stakes debut in the Grade 3, $100,000 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 10.
"We're looking at it," said Von Hemel, who trains Rotary for Arthur B. Hancock III and country artist Toby Keith.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - When a trainer gets his first Kentucky Derby horse, no manual accompanies the prospect, explaining the steps to have him at his best on the first Saturday in May. Those decisions are left up to the wisdom and expertise of the individual horseman, each of whom approaches the task in his own manner.
The aborted fetus of a mare stabled at Golden Gate Fields tested positive last week for the equine herpesvirus, an outbreak of which caused the track to be quarantined earlier this year, but the mare and five horses stabled near her tested negative for the disease, according to a release from the California Horse Racing Board.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The largest racing stable in Southern California grew bigger Tuesday when trainer Doug O'Neill picked up 28 horses owned by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds that previously were trained by Manny Marques.
Tommy Town owner Tom Stull confirmed Tuesday the farm had severed ties with Marques and that O'Neill was the farm's new trainer.
"I don't want to say anything bad about Manny; it was a business decision," Stull said.
Hired in August, Marques won 9 races from 77 starts for Tommy Town.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - G G's Dolly is one of the quickest mares in the region. But her trainer, Kelly Von Hemel, does not want her to be the one with the target on her back Thursday, when she makes her first start since June in the featured eighth race at Oaklawn Park. He'd like that honor to fall to True Tails.
"I sure don't want to hook True Tails, but I sure don't want to let her get away," said Von Hemel. "You're going to have to be pretty close and hope you can run her down."
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Bob Holthus has won the Southwest Stakes a record five times, including the last two runnings with Lawyer Ron and Greater Good. Tuesday morning, he put his starter for this year's renewal, Grade 3 winner Officer Rocket, through a major work. The Southwest, which is worth $250,000, will open up Oaklawn Park's series for 3-year-olds on Feb. 19.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - In the case of Thursday's eighth race at Aqueduct, a six-furlong optional claimer with a $45,000 purse, the probable pace scenario seems pretty straightforward: Deep Dish Wildcat will try for the early lead, and her rivals will try to catch her.
Deep Dish Wildcat drew the inside post in a field of six 3-year-old fillies. The New Farm homebred makes her first start in New York following a third-place finish in the $74,000 Marshua Stakes at Laurel first time out this year.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - While Street Sense, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, is still weeks away from his first start of the year, the time is drawing closer for Dreaming of Anna, a fellow Eclipse Award champion and the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Dreaming of Anna, who like Street Sense is based this winter here at the Palm Meadows training center, is now scheduled to make her 2007 debut at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 10, trainer Wayne Catalano said Tuesday morning.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Three starts into her North American campaign, the Group 1-winning Brazilian import Naughty Rafaela already has used an array of excuses.
First, she had traffic trouble. Next time, she bounced. Then she moved too soon. One, two, three strikes and you're out.
However, Naughty Rafaela is not out. She keeps showing up, and promising more than she delivers. And though cynics have given up, Naughty Rafaela's supporters will give her one more chance Thursday in the $75,000 La Zanzara Handicap at Santa Anita.
