SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Kimari, the Grade 1 Madison Stakes winner, was held out of a planned start in next Wednesday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap when entries were taken Friday.
Trainer Wesley Ward said he felt the 4-year-old filly wasn’t 100 percent this week. Though a complete evaluation by Dr. Luis Castro, complete with X-rays and ultrasounds, showed no physical issues, Ward said he wasn’t comfortable entering Kimari in the six-furlong race.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After chasing big prizes in the Middle East during the winter, Channel Maker, North America’s male turf champion of 2020, will kick off the U.S. portion of his 7-year-old campaign in next Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Butch Reid Jr. would love to run his red-hot 3-year-old Beren next Friday in the 1 1/8-mile Curlin at Saratoga. But after Beren worked four furlongs in a blistering 46.78 seconds here just before the renovation break on Friday, Reid is having second thoughts.
“His work this morning was too good, too fast,” Reid said. “I really wanted him to go like he did last time, easy, in 48 and change, which is why I didn’t put a jock on him. It just doesn’t feel right to send him a mile and one-eighth in one week off a work like this.”
All-sources handle at all California venues increased 20 percent, to $1.53 billion, in the first six months of the year compared to a similar period in 2020.
The data was announced by Scott Chaney, the executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, at a meeting on Wednesday.
The former claimer Cupid’s Claws will start in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic or Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 21 after a game second-place finish in the Grade 3 Cougar II Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on July 18.
Cupid’s Claws was beaten 2 1/4 lengths by Pacific Classic hopeful Tizmagician in the Cougar II Stakes on dirt after dueling for the lead on the turn.
Jockey Rafael Bejarano has been denied access to all Kentucky tracks pending resolution to a July 11 incident that led to his ejection from Ellis Park in western Kentucky.
The Ellis stewards issued a ruling Sunday that bars Bejarano from all facilities under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Bejarano has not ridden since July 11.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The famed red and gold silks of Sam-Son Farm have been in the Queen’s Plate winner’s circle on five occasions, with its last Queen’s Plate win coming 12 years ago by Eye of the Leopard in 2009. Since then, Sam-Son has had a pair of runner-up finishes from 10 starters in the Queen’s Plate – Hotep in 2010 and Up With the Birds in 2013.
CINCINNATI – Santiago Gonzalez, easily the leading rider at the current Belterra meet, will be out indefinitely after suffering a fractured femur in a training accident early Friday. Gonzalez was expected to need surgery for the injury, according to a track spokesman.
Gonzalez leads the Belterra standings with 69 wins, well ahead of the 45 posted by Perry Ouzts (through Thursday). His earnings at a meet that runs April 29 through Oct. 8 are just more than $1 million.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Code of Honor, the 2019 Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, appears to be ahead of schedule in his bid to return to the races this fall.
On Wednesday, Code of Honor worked a half-mile in 50.69 seconds over the Oklahoma training track. It was his second work since being shipped back to trainer Shug McGaughey following a lengthy break. He also worked twice at Niall Brennan’s farm in Ocala, Fla., where he was turned out following a fifth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After making a successful return to the races in an allowance race Wednesday, Forza Di Oro will be pointed to the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup here on Sept. 4, trainer Bill Mott said.
Forza Di Oro won the Grade 3 Discovery in November 2020, but was sidelined with an ankle injury that delayed his 4-year-old debut until Wednesday. He won that 1 1/8-mile race, over a sealed, muddy track, by widening three lengths and earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.
