Mon, 06/21/2021 - 11:46

Rock Your World to return to turf, targets Del Mar Derby

Debra A. Roma
Rock Your World, who faded to sixth in the Belmont Stakes (above), began his career with two wins on turf, including a victory in the Pasadena Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Rock Your World, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in April but well beaten in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, will race on turf this summer.

Trainer John Sadler said Sunday that Rock Your World will be pointed to the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Sept. 4. Rock Your World might prep at Del Mar in the Grade 3 La Jolla Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf on Aug. 8, Sadler said.

Mon, 06/21/2021 - 11:46

Smooth Like Strait starts preparing for Eddie Read

Benoit Photo
Umberto Rispoli and Smooth Like Strait team up for their fourth stakes win since August in Monday's Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Less than three weeks after a win in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita, Smooth Like Strait worked a half-mile in 49.60 seconds on Friday for an expected start in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes on July 24 at Del Mar. The $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes is run at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

“I’m very pleased with what I saw,” trainer Michael McCarthy said of the workout.

Mon, 06/21/2021 - 11:30

Gufo will get blinkers for next start

ELMONT, N.Y. – Gufo, the Grade 1 Belmont Derby winner who was third to Domestic Spending in the Grade 1 Manhattan earlier this month, will be equipped with blinkers for his next start, trainer Christophe Clement said Sunday.

Gufo is likely to run next in the $150,000 Grand Couturier on July 5 at Belmont, though the Grade 1, $500,000 United Nations on July 17 at Monmouth Park also is under consideration, Clement said. The Grade 1, $750,000 Sword Dancer on Aug. 28 at Saratoga is Gufo’s primary summer objective.

Mon, 06/21/2021 - 11:26

Letruska will run right back in Fleur de Lis

Barbara D. Livingston
Letruska earned a career-high 103 Beyer for her Odgen Phipps win.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Somebody must’ve forgotten to tell trainer Fausto Gutierrez that top-level horses in America usually don’t wheel back in three weeks, at least not when the weather gets this warm.

Not that anyone should mind.

Mon, 06/21/2021 - 10:20

Santa Anita weathers pandemic and gets through meet

Six months ago, the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting began the day after Christmas without a paying audience amidst a pandemic that had a devastating grip on Southern California, filling hospitals beyond capacity. Essential employees and a small number of horse owners were among the few people to attend what should have been a huge opening day on Dec. 26, and they were allowed in only after they underwent a pre-admission temperature check.

Sun, 06/20/2021 - 17:56

Ruling redistributes Flagstaff's runner-up purse from Santa Anita Sprint Championship

Coady Photography
Flagstaff, who has won major stakes in Kentucky in his last two starts, will forfeit the $40,000 he earned for finishing second to C Z Rocket in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship last September.

A portion of the purse of the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship last September was ordered redistributed by Santa Anita stewards on Saturday after runner-up Flagstaff showed the presence of the banned medication clodronic acid, a bisphosphonate.

Flagstaff earned $40,000, which has been ordered forfeited by owners Hronis Racing and Lane’s End Racing, trainer John Sadler and Victor Espinoza. Flagstaff is demoted to unplaced, according to the ruling.

Sun, 06/20/2021 - 17:46

D'Amato reached milestone with Acclimate's San Juan Capistrano win

Benoit photo
Acclimate returned $6 with the victory in the San Juan Capistrano Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Phil D’Amato, who led all trainers in wins at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting that ended Sunday, reached a milestone with Acclimate’s victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano at about 1 3/4 miles on turf.

D’Amato became only the third trainer in the race’s 83-year history to win three consecutive runnings, joining Buddy Hirsch (1952-54) and Charles Whittingham (1970-72 and 1983-87).

“It’s an honor,” D’Amato reflected Sunday morning in his backstretch office. “Growing up, it was one of my favorite races to watch.”

Sun, 06/20/2021 - 14:50

Brown leans toward Test for Search Results

Emily Shields
Search Results, winner of the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes, trains at Belmont Park on June 3.

While he has not made a final decision as of yet, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday he is “leaning” toward running Grade 1 Acorn winner Search Results in the Grade 1 Test, a seven-furlong race at Saratoga on Aug. 7, rather than the Coaching Club American Oaks, a two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race at Saratoga on July 24.

Brown said he likes the additional time to the Test after Search Results ran a strong second to Malathaat in the Kentucky Oaks on April 30, then came back five weeks later to win the Grade 1 Acorn here June 5. Malathaat is pointing to the CCA Oaks.

Sun, 06/20/2021 - 14:40

Domestic Spending to start in Mister D. Stakes, Brown says

Debra A. Roma
Domestic Spending supera a sus rivales en el Manhattan S. G1

ELMONT, N.Y. - Domestic Spending, the leader of the male turf division with two Grade 1 victories including a convincing score in the Manhattan two weeks ago, will make his next start in the Grade 1 $600,000 Mister D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 14, trainer Chad Brown confirmed Sunday.

The Mister D. is the race formerly known as the Arlington Million, a 1 1/4-mile race at Arlington Park that Brown has won four times, including in 2019 with Bricks and Mortar, who was voted Horse of the Year.

Fri, 06/18/2021 - 15:10

Always Carina will risk unbeaten mark in Mother Goose

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Always Carina’s 9 3/4-length allowance win on Thursday at Belmont put her in the picture for the Grade 2 Mother Goose.

ELMONT, N.Y. – While trainer Chad Brown decides what to do next with Grade 1 Acorn winner Search Results, he plans to give unbeaten Always Carina her final work over the weekend in preparation for next Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes.

A daughter of Malibu Moon, Always Carina has impressed winning her first two starts, including a 9 3/4-length score in a one-mile allowance here on May 20.

She will make her stakes debut in the Mother Goose and is likely to meet four rivals in the 1 1/16-mile race.