LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following the recent defections of California fillies Soothsay and Beautiful Gift, a full field has firmed up for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks, with the Brad Cox-trained Coach being the latest to secure a spot in the 14-horse lineup. Entries for the Friday race will be drawn Monday.
Medina Spirit has been a constant presence in 3-year-old stakes at Santa Anita since the beginning of the year, and consistent enough to merit a start in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1.
Medina Spirit won the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes on Jan. 30, and was second in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in early January, the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 6, and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 3.
The California Horse Racing Board voted to enact stricter penalties for excessive whip use on Wednesday, granting track stewards the right to issue higher financial penalties than currently allowed.
By a vote of 6-0, the racing board approved a rule establishing a minimum fine of $500 and possible suspension of at least three racing days for whip violations. The current sanction calls for a maximum fine of $1,000 and possible three-day suspension.
In addition, the new rule does not set a maximum fine in the event of “egregious or intentional” violations.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – C Z Rocket is being considered for a start at two turns, perhaps in the Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park, according to his trainer, Peter Miller.
C Z Rocket has won back-to-back sprint stakes at Oaklawn Park and is coming off a win in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap. He has returned home to Southern California.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The William Walker is the veritable tip of the iceberg of a Churchill stakes schedule that peaks next weekend with the blockbuster Oaks and Derby Day cards.
The Tuesday card will be anchored by the $120,000 Isaac Murphy, a 1 1/2-mile main-track race expected to get Ry’s the Guy and You’re to Blame as major players. Two-year-olds take the spotlight Wednesday in the $125,000 Kentucky Juvenile at five furlongs, while a pair of grass stakes, the $150,000 Unbridled Sidney and $120,000 Opening Verse, are the features Thursday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Richard Klein didn’t exactly invent Brad Cox, but he sure was in on the ground floor of the making of an Eclipse Award-winning trainer.
Not long after Cox went out on his own in the fall of 2004, Klein and his late parents, Bert and Elaine, were the first owners with considerable means to employ Cox.
“I guess you could say we were onto him early,” recalled Klein. “We saw his work ethic and how his mind works, so we gave him a few of our cheaper horses to help get him started.”
Multiplier, winner of the Grade 3 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne in 2017 and runner-up in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2020, was euthanized as a result of an injury sustained in Sunday’s Grade 3 Tokyo City Cup, according to California Horse Racing Board records.
Multiplier was last in a field of five when he was abruptly pulled up by jockey Ruben Fuentes on the turn. A 7-year-old gelding, Multiplier won 4 of 37 starts. He was claimed for $50,000 in February by trainer Andrew Lerner and had his third start for the stable in the Tokyo City.
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella may have a memorable Memorial Day weekend next month.
Three of the stable’s leading runners – Royal Ship, Soothsay, and United – are scheduled to run in graded stakes at Santa Anita on consecutive days. All three have won stakes since late March.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Weyburn, the Grade 3 Gotham winner who is pointing to the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes on May 8, worked five furlongs in 1:00.16 on Wednesday morning over the Belmont Park main track.
Working by himself and in blinkers that he typically wears in his races, Weyburn broke off at the half-mile pole and went his opening quarter in 23.51 seconds. He went his second quarter in 23.65 before going his last eighth in 13.00.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Tony Dutrow will be on a fact-finding mission of sorts Friday when he runs the 3-year-old filly Miss Brazil against older fillies and mares in a second-level allowance race at Belmont Park.
Dutrow is hoping to use the 6 1/2-furlong race as a stepping-stone to either the Grade 1 Acorn going a mile on June 5 or the $150,000 Jersey Girl Stakes going six furlongs on June 6. Both races are at Belmont.
