Mon, 05/31/2021 - 15:10

Undefeated Chub Wagon faces toughest test in Bed o' Roses Stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
Chub Wagon scores his sixth win in the Skipat Stakes at Pimlico on Preakness Day.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Chub Wagon, an undefeated Pennsylvania-bred mare, will have her toughest test to date when she is scheduled to face seven rivals in Friday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses Stakes at seven furlongs.

Trained by Guadalupe Preciado, Chub Wagon has gone 6 for 6 beginning with a $20,000 claiming victory in her debut and culminating with a victory in the Skipat Stakes at Pimlico on Preakness Day.

Chub Wagon will take on a field that includes Vagrancy winner Victim of Love, Pacific Gale, Lake Avenue, Bayerness, Alandra, Estilo Talentoso, and Piedi Bianchi.

Mon, 05/31/2021 - 15:06

Mean Mary part of strong 12-horse field in New York Stakes

Justin N. Lane
Mean Mary wins the Gallorette at Pimlico in her first start of the year. She is going for a repeat win in the New York on Friday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – When Mean Mary won the Grade 2 New York Stakes last year, she did so off a three-month layoff, due in large part to the disruption of racing schedules caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Friday, when she seeks a repeat victory in the $750,000 New York Stakes at Belmont Park, Mean Mary will be running back in three weeks, following a facile victory in the Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes at Pimlico. The relative ease in which Mean Mary achieved her Pimlico victory played a role in trainer Graham Motion choosing to run in the New York.

Mon, 05/31/2021 - 14:26

Wilshire Stakes the plan for Raymundos Secret

Benoit photo
Raymundos Secret has now won 5 of 7 starts.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Raymundos Secret, scratched from racing on Monday, will have her next start in the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on June 20, the closing day of the winter-spring meeting.

Raymundos Secret was entered in two Grade 1 turf races worth $300,000 on Monday – the Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares and the Shoemaker Mile against males, but trainer Phil D’Amato said the $100,000 Wilshire Stakes is a more suitable race for her.

Mon, 05/31/2021 - 14:26

Crazy Beautiful continues McPeek's roll in Southern California

Emily Shields
Crazy Beautiful wins the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks on Sunday at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Crazy Beautiful won the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita on Sunday, continuing a remarkable span of success in California in recent years for Kentucky-based trainer Ken McPeek.

Since the start of 2017, McPeek has won four graded stakes from five starters at Santa Anita, including the Grade 1 Beholder Mile in March with Swiss Skydiver, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2020.

It will not be long before McPeek has another West Coast starter.

Mon, 05/31/2021 - 13:06

Construction of Tapeta synthetic track kicks off series of renovations

Barbara D. Livingston
The outer third of the Gulfstream turf course will be replaced with a Tapeta synthetic surface.

In what is best described as a small sacrifice in the present for a better overall product in the future, work is scheduled to begin next Monday at Gulfstream Park on the installation of a Tapeta synthetic racing surface over what is currently the outer third portion of the turf course.

Mon, 05/31/2021 - 12:56

Belmont Stakes 2021: Rock Your World seeks redemption

Emily Shields
Rock Your World, training last week at Santa Anita, skipped the Preakness and runs Saturday in the Belmont.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Rock Your World went off the 9-2 second choice in the Kentucky Derby. Any of his backers in earshot of trainer John Sadler shortly after the break would have known early on those tickets would not be cashed.

Rock Your World bumped with Essential Quality coming out of the starting gate and in the first few strides was in front of just two horses. Though he raced in mid-pack throughout the race, in the end, Rock Your World finished 17th, in front of just two horses, 24 1/4 lengths behind Medina Spirit.

Mon, 05/31/2021 - 10:26

Beau Liam has crowd buzzing in debut win

Coady Photography
Beau Liam looked sensational winning on debut, and earning a 94 Beyer Figure.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Before the seven stakes were run Saturday at Churchill, a first-time starter named Beau Liam had the ontrack crowd buzzing. Trained by Steve Asmussen for owner-breeder Stonestreet Stables, the 3-year-old Liam’s Map colt earned a 94 Beyer in a 7 1/2-length romp, getting six furlongs in 1:08.62.

“It’s very exciting,” Asmussen said Monday. “He’d obviously shown talent in the mornings, but you never know until they do it in the afternoon.”

Mon, 05/31/2021 - 10:26

Cox, Juddmonte have big Saturday at Churchill

Coady Photography
Fulsome earned a 97 Beyer Figure for his victory in the Matt Winn.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Poor start? No worries. Fulsome and Set Piece both spotted the opposition head starts in separate stakes Saturday at Churchill Downs, but the Juddmonte Farms homebreds bounded home easy winners under the wire the second time around.

Fulsome, with Florent Geroux riding, earned a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure in his eye-catching score in the Grade 3 Matt Winn and now joins Essential Quality, Mandaloun, and Caddo River as top-flight 3-year-olds in the powerhouse Brad Cox stable.

Sun, 05/30/2021 - 19:36

Award Winner's move to California pays off

Benoit Photo
Award Winner (afuera) alcanza la victoria en el Charles Whittingham S.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The relocation of Award Winner from the Midwest to California late last year has revived the 5-year-old gelding's career.

On Saturday, Award Winner scored a minor upset, and won his first stakes in his 17th start, in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes. Award Winner is trained by David Hofmans for John and Jerry Amerman.

For Hofmans, 78, the $196,000 Whittingham Stakes was his first graded stakes win since Melatonin’s victory in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in June 2016.

Sun, 05/30/2021 - 19:26

Trainer Mandella has head-scratcher day at Santa Anita

Barbara D. Livingston
Bombard's speed might give him an advantage in the Daytona Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Of the senior turf runners in Saturday's stakes at Santa Anita for trainer Richard Mandella, one gave a career-best performance while the other displayed the most perplexing race of his accomplished career.

Bombard, 8, won his first graded stakes in the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf, obliging as the 7-10 favorite.

United, a five-time stakes winner and millionaire who was second in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf, finished last of four in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf, a race the 6-year-old won in 2020.