OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Natalia Lynch had to enjoy her first victory as a trainer from afar.
When Wendell Fong rallied from last to get up by a neck over Share the Ride in Saturday’s $100,000 Fire Plug Stakes at Laurel Park, it represented the first victory as a trainer for the 26-year-old Lynch, who went out on her own last summer.
Friday was a black-letter kind of morning at the Mike Stidham barn at Fair Grounds, where stable inhabitants Mystic Guide and Roadster turned in bullet workouts, the fastest of the day at respective distances.
Mystic Guide worked a half-mile in 47.20 seconds, the fastest of 71 four-furlong breezes and the 4-year-old’s first timed workout since Dec. 15. At that time, Mystic Guide was being considered for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, but Mystic Guide came down with a relatively minor virus making the rounds of the Fair Grounds backstretch and required time to fully recover.
Nat Wess, who spent more than 45 years as an executive at racetracks and horsemen’s organizations in California and Minnesota, died on Thursday as a result of complications from a recent fall, according to his daughter, Deborah.
Wess was 81.
In a career that spanned from 1964 to 2009, Wess held a variety of jobs in racing, beginning as a publicity assistant at Santa Anita, and later holding management titles at Canterbury Park in Minnesota, Bay Meadows in northern California, Hollywood Park in Southern California, and with the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The longest shot on the board won the first two races at Aqueduct on Friday and the second-longest shot won the fourth resulting in an early pick five carryover of $265,042 into Saturday’s Aqueduct card.
The early pick five is on races 1 through 5 with first Saturday post at 12:20 p.m. Eastern.
After a four-day hiatus, Friday’s card began with 73-1 shot Gratto Swing ($148.50) pulling an upset under Benjamin Hernandez. Race 2 had only five horses, but Flashndynamite ($16) rallied up the inside to win as the longest shot in the field.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – At this time last year, trainer John Terranova was preparing to send Killybegs Captain to Florida for his 5-year-old debut in the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Killybegs Captain won that race and was then being considered for the $2 million Golden Shaheen at Meydan in Dubai. That race was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Killybegs Captain was being pointed to the Grade 1 Carter Handicap last June when he came up with an ankle injury.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Owner Larry Roman didn’t know what he was getting into when had trainer Rob Atras drop the claim slip for a son of Uncle Mo in the first race at Aqueduct on Jan. 8.
When the horse won by 6 1/2 lengths, Roman thought he got a nice horse at a bargain price. Twenty-four hours later, he had more than that.
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The Oaklawn Park meet will open Friday with a field of seven horses chasing after Kentucky Derby points in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes.
The field for the Smarty Jones from the rail, with riders, is Martini Blu, Francisco Arrieta; Lawlessness, David Cohen; Cowan, Ricardo Santana Jr.; Big Thorn, David Cabrera; Hardly Swayed, Martin Garcia; Moonlite Strike, Joe Talamo; and Caddo River, Florent Geroux.
Max Player, who was fifth in the Kentucky Derby and fifth in the Preakness, has been working steadily at Fair Grounds for trainer Steve Asmussen, who said connections hope to send him to Saudi Arabia for the $20 million Saudi Cup.
Asmussen said Max Player is only an alternative invitee to the Saudi Cup right now, but there’s hope he will at some point receive a full invitation.
“He’s picking it back up now,” Asmussen said of Max Player’s training pattern. “I’d like to run him there fresh.”
Express Train, second to the highly regarded Charlatan in the Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26, is likely to have his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Jan. 30.
Trainer John Shirreffs said on Friday that the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes is an immediate goal instead of the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs on Jan. 23.
“That would be the preferred race,” Shirreffs said of the San Pasqual. “He can always come back and sprint later if it doesn’t work out.”
Collusion Illusion, third in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, is scheduled to start in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes on Jan. 23, a race not expected to include C Z Rocket, who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in November.
Collusion Illusion, the winner of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes against older horses at Del Mar last August, was 12th of 14 in the BC Sprint at Keeneland. In the Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs, Collusion Illusion closed from fifth in a field of six to finish five lengths behind easy winner Charlatan.
