ARCADIA, Calif. – Gregorian Chant, a two-time stakes winner who finished seventh in his Grade 1 debut in the $400,000 Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park last Saturday, will not race again until the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 22.
The $100,000 Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf will largely determine Gregorian Chant’s autumn campaign.
“It will be a nice trial race to see if the distance suits him for a possible Breeders’ Cup run,” trainer Phil D’Amato said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Whatmakessammyrun used a late-running style to comfortably win the Desert Code Stakes for 3-year-olds at six furlongs on turf at Santa Anita on Sunday. Whatmakessammyrun will start at longer distances at Del Mar before an expected return to a turf sprint at Kentucky Downs in September.
Trainer Mark Glatt said on Wednesday that Whatmakesammyrun is likely to start in the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes at a mile on turf for 3-year-olds at Del Mar on July 16, the track’s opening day.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Pacific Gale was the queen of the filly and mare sprint set here this past winter. So it only stands to reason that her trainer, John Kimmel, is strongly considering shipping her back to South Florida for the richest and most important race in that division here this season, the $350,000 Princess Rooney on July 3.
The Grade 2 Princess Rooney is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and the only Breeders’ Cup Challenge race on the local stakes schedule.
Jockey Ramon Vazquez pulled a graded stakes double last week, when he won the Grade 2 Brooklyn on the Belmont Stakes undercard in New York just five days after winning Lone Star Park’s richest race, the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile.
“It was incredible,” Vazquez said.
Vazquez is based at Lone Star, in Texas, and guided Mo Mosa to a 3 1/2-length win in the Sexton Mile for Perry and Denise Martin and trainer Mike Maker.
“I was really confident in Mo Mosa because I know he loved the sloppy track,” Vazquez said. “The last quarter, he responded.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Off a victory in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April, Juliet Foxtrot figures as a heavy favorite in the Grade 3 Mint Julep, a 1 1/16-mile turf race that anchors an 11-race Saturday night card at Churchill.
Trained by Brad Cox for Juddmonte Farms, Juliet Foxtrot will have leading jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard when she faces 10 other fillies and mares in the Mint Julep. First post is 6 p.m. Eastern.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Zulu Alpha, an Eclipse Award finalist among turf males last year, continues on a steady work pattern ahead of his 8-year-old debut. Unraced since September, the $2.26 million-earner could return in the Grade 1 United Nations on the July 17 Haskell undercard at Monmouth, according to owner Michael Hui.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hidden Stash was never a factor when 14th in the Kentucky Derby, but that’s okay. A good time was had by all.
“We’d do it all over again,” said Brian Klatsky, who with Brendan O’Brien heads the Big Blue Nation Racing partnership that owns Hidden Stash. “It was a great experience.”
Warrior’s Charge has some stakes options in July following his troubled sixth-place finish in the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile on May 31 at Lone Star Park.
Trainer Brad Cox said the horse will be considered for the Grade 3, $300,000 Cornhusker on July 2 at Prairie Meadows. Another option is the $85,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial on July 7 at Indiana Grand.
Warrior’s Charge is a multiple Grade 3 winner of nearly $900,000. The front-runner came in from Kentucky for the Sexton Mile. He was one of the top choices in the race, won by Mo Mosa.
Winning Romance, who was a 20 3/4-length winner of the $100,000 Louisiana Legends Soiree for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday night at Evangeline Downs, will be getting a little downtime in Kentucky, trainer Bret Calhoun said Tuesday.
“We’ll freshen her, give her about 30 days turn out, and point toward the Louisiana-bred races in the fall,” he said.
Mr. Wireless will see more stakes action this summer following his runner-up finish to Warrant in the $300,000 Texas Derby on May 31 at Lone Star Park.
Mr. Wireless was second by three-quarters of a length in what was his stakes debut. He earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 88.
“I thought he ran great,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “I was very happy with him. We’ll point him toward the Indiana Derby.”
The Grade 3, $300,000 race is July 7 at Indiana Grand.
