LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Magna Graduate emerged from a Sunday workout at Churchill Downs with an injured hind ankle and will be sidelined for several months, trainer Todd Pletcher said Wednesday from Belmont Park.
Magna Graduate, winner of the Grade 2 Clark Handicap here last fall, had been pointing to the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap on June 17. The 4-year-old colt, an earner of more than $1.7 million, finished fourth in his most recent start, the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 25.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Lost in the Fog, last year's Eclipse sprint champion, will make his next start at Churchill Downs in the Grade 3, $150,000 Aristides Breeders' Cup on June 3.
Trainer Greg Gilchrist and owner Harry Aleo had also been considering the five-furlong, $100,000 Beck Auto Group Turf Sprint at Lone Star Park on May 29.
"I was concerned about the heat in Texas and the fact he's never run on the turf," Gilchrist said.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Publication already has outlasted 11 others who ran with him in the 2001 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. When the 7-year-old gelding runs July 2 in the Grade 1 Triple Bend Handicap at Hollywood Park, he will try to do what none of his colleagues could do - win a Grade 1 as an older horse.
Publication, fourth in the BC Juvenile, scored an improbable comeback win Saturday at Hollywood. It was Publication's first start in two years. He is the only 2001 BC Juvenile starter still in training. Trainer Vladimir Cerin was among the few who still believed in him.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Away from the races for eight months, Gold Bridle faces a tough task in race 6 Thursday at Hollywood Park. Or does he?
"He's training very well, and we've got [Patrick] Valenzuela," trainer Doug O'Neill said.
meets six others in the entry-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles, and there is more to like than works and jockey. Gold Bridle might be the speed of the field, and if he steals away from distance-challenged Courtnall, Gold Bridle could be gone.
Following a trouble-plagued 3-year-old campaign last season, the Todd Pletcher-trained Morning Raider has returned with a vengeance, impressively winning his maiden over the Gulfstream Park turf and subsequently advancing through his first-level allowance condition at Keeneland last month.
A son of Giant's Causeway who was purchased for $450,000 as a yearling, Morning Raider will try for his third successive score over as many different turf courses Thursday in Belmont's feature race, a second-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles on the Widener turf course.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Bernie Flint took a quick look at the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and didn't like what he saw. Flint scratched Red Cherries Spin last Friday from the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico knowing full well there would be more appealing spots for the filly.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Horses from around the country will converge on Lone Star Park this Monday for the annual Lone Star Million Day, a program of six stakes worth $1 million. The biggest races on the card are the Grade 3, $400,000 Lone Star Park Handicap and the Grade 3, $200,000 WinStar Distaff.
CHICAGO - The good news is that Gouldings Green, who beat the highly regarded Wild Desert on Kentucky Oaks Day in the Alysheba Stakes, is coming to Arlington for his second straight start in the Hanshin Handicap. The bad news is that only a few horses seem likely to challenge him.
Turf Paradise's 50th anniversary meeting, which ended Sunday, saw gains in all areas, with the average daily total handle on Turf Paradise races up 7.6 percent from the 2004-2005 meet.
The average daily handle on the live races for the 164-day meet was $1,420,853, compared with $1,320,169 at the previous meeting. The 2004-2005 meeting was 160 days after seven were lost to bad weather. This meet, originally scheduled for 166 days, had two cards scrapped because of bad weather.
CALGARY, Alberta - Smudgeledo, owned by Montana cattleman Lloyd DeBruycker and trained by Greg Tracy, has not received much respect at this Stampede Park meet.
Sent off at 11-1 on Saturday, Smudgeledo broke very alertly from post 4 and never faced a serious challenge in the Teeworth Plate, romping home 5 1/2 lengths in front of Hastings shipper True Metropolitan with fellow Vancouver invader Five Point Star another 2 3/4 lengths back in third.
The Teeworth was only the latest time Smudgeledo has proved himself.
