The stakes winners Country Grammer, Independence Hall, and Royal Ship are among five expected runners in Saturday’s Grade 2 Californian Stakes for older horses going 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita.
Those three will likely be joined by Growth Engine, who was fifth in the Santana Mile on March 28, and Magic On Tap, who will have his stakes debut in the $200,000 race.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Victor Espinoza did not get far on the Santa Anita apron on Sunday morning without stopping to visit with numerous trainers, a few owners and basically anyone else who crossed his path.
The grandstand at Santa Anita may cover the length of the stretch, but Espinoza, dressed in a riding helmet, safety vest and blue jeans, was determined to work the room. He has some catching up to do.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – You missed the press release on Charlie LoPresti retiring from training because, well, there wasn’t one.
“Didn’t want to make a big deal about it,” said LoPresti, who less than a decade ago was on top of the racing world as the trainer of Wise Dan, the two-time Horse of the Year (2012-13).
Arapahoe Park on Tuesday received Colorado Racing Commission approval to conduct a fall meet for 2021. The 32-date season will run from Aug. 11-Oct. 2. There had been an order to delay racing to 2022 in part because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but it was rescinded Tuesday.
Arapahoe, which conducts a mixed meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, generally races from late May to the middle of August. The track will begin receiving horses July 27, an Arapahoe official told the commission Tuesday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The champions Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver were among six fillies and mares entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn. The race will share a Saturday card with the Grade 2, $1 million Oaklawn Handicap, which drew eight horses, including Santa Anita Handicap runner-up Express Train.
Swiss Skydiver drew post 2 and will be ridden by Robby Albarado, while Monomoy Girl will start from post 6 under Florent Geroux. The race is slotted as the 11th of 12.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The connections of Grade 1 winner Get Her Number will be keeping close tabs on Kentucky Derby developments leading up to the May 1 classic at Churchill Downs.
Trainer Peter Miller said Tuesday that the race is on the horse’s radar after his troubled fourth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby last Saturday. Get Her Number earned 10 points to bring his total to 20, and sat 24th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard on Tuesday.
Volleying between grief and gratitude, trainer Wayne Potts was back at Belmont Park Wednesday morning, tending to the 52 horses of his who survived Tuesday evening’s barn fire, which took the lives of two of his horses.
“It could have been a lot worse, I could have lost everything and had nothing left,” Potts said Wednesday morning in Belmont’s barn 48, one of six barns where Potts now has horses stabled.
Round 4 of the battle between Clairiere and Travel Column in the Kentucky Oaks on April 30 will feature a new jockey for Clairiere, with trainer Steve Asmussen reporting on Tuesday night that Tyler Gaffalione had picked up the mount.
Tickets for the reopened Golden Gate Fields went on sale Monday for limited seating for the next two weeks of racing, including Gold Rush Weekend on April 24-25.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.goldengatefields.com/events/tickets. Tickets cost $15, which includes admission, a reserved seat and program. No walk-up sales are allowed.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Bret Calhoun on Monday was just starting to look over options for a spring-summer campaign for By My Standards, who went over $2 million in earnings Saturday with his nose victory in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile.
The race was the horse’s first start since November. Calhoun said the multiple Grade 2 winner was to travel Monday to Kentucky.
“Nice comeback race for him, for sure,” said Calhoun.
