ARCADIA, Calif. – Mucho Unusual’s long march to $1 million is on hold. The Grade 1-winning turf mare, now 5, has been turned out for a midseason freshening and is expected to return later this year in her quest for a seven-figure career purse total.
:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Santa Anita Clocker Report
BALTIMORE – The two-day Preakness weekend amounts to a horseplayer’s delight as Pimlico will offer a wide variety of wagers Friday and Saturday.
There’s a two-day double linking the Black-Eyed Susan and the Preakness, along with a slew of multi-race wagers ending Friday with the Black-Eyed Susan and Saturday with the Preakness. And there’s always the multitude of vertical wagers, including superfectas available in 10-cent increments.
BALTIMORE – D. Wayne Lukas has been coming to Pimlico for the Preakness for more than 40 years, so he’s not concerned with what people think about him running a horse that’s sure to be the longest shot in the field Saturday.
“I don’t have to stand here and try to prove I can train a horse,” said the 85-year-old Hall of Famer. “If somebody’s saying, ‘What the hell’s he doing in there with that horse?’ We’re the longshot, we’re dangerous.”
BALTIMORE – Ten 3-year-olds led by Medina Spirit, the controversial first-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, have passed the entry box for the $1 million Preakness Stakes, to be run for the 146th time Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
Medina Spirit was assigned post 3 for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, while his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Concert Tour got post 10. Medina Spirit, with John Velazquez back to ride, is the 9-5 favorite on the Pimlico morning line issued by Keith Feustle, while Concert Tour (Mike Smith) is the 5-2 second choice.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was treated with an anti-fungal ointment containing betamethasone, the substance detected in his post-Derby blood sample, up until the day prior to the race, trainer Bob Baffert said in a statement released on Tuesday.
While Pimlico management and officials with the track’s parent company, 1/ST, were still deciding Monday afternoon whether to allow embattled trainer Bob Baffert to run horses at Pimlico this week, including Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit in Saturday’s Preakness, racing officials did draw Friday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan with the Baffert-trained Beautiful Gift in the 10-horse field.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A handful of trainers who otherwise would have been back home racing at Woodbine by this time of year have sent strings to Kentucky to compete at the Churchill Downs spring meet, including Norm McKnight, who already has sent out two winners from three starts.
“We’ve been waiting for something good to happen back home, and we keep getting pushed back,” McKnight said Monday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Grade 2 winner Bodhicitta is nearing her 2021 debut. Sunday at Santa Anita, Bodhicitta worked five furlongs on the infield training track in 1:00.40.
“We’re looking for a big campaign in the summer,” trainer Richard Baltas said.
:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Santa Anita Clocker Report
ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza switched agents over the weekend, ending an eight-year partnership with Brian Beach and hiring Tom Knust.
Knust said Sunday that he has started working on behalf of Espinoza and will continue to represent Abel Cedillo.
In an interview Sunday, Espinoza said he parted ways with Beach in order to have an agent based at Santa Anita. Beach and his wife, Lotta, have purchased a home in Idaho and are spending a majority of their time away from California.
“I decided to ask somebody else,” Espinoza said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Street Art, a bargain purchase for $37,000 as a yearling, won his debut in a maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds at 4 1/2 furlongs on Sunday at Santa Anita.
Ridden by Kent Desormeaux for his brother Keith, Street Art took the lead shortly after the start and was never bothered by his four rivals, pulling away by four lengths. Sent off favored, Street Art paid $5.40 and was timed in 52.05 seconds.
“He’s fast,” Kent Desormeaux said. “We were high on him. He’s done well with the other good ones in the mornings, so that’s a good sign.”
