DEL MAR, Calif. - Bob Baffert has a mantra for Roman Ruler: Feet, don't fail me now.
It has a been a long, hard slog for Baffert with Roman Ruler. The 3-year-old colt's troublesome feet were a source of concern last summer at Del Mar, worsened this winter and spring at Santa Anita, and reached a low point when Roman Ruler finished last in the San Felipe Stakes in his first start of the year.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Jeff Mullins is excited. Not only is he atop the Del Mar trainer standings after two weeks of the meet, but he believes stable star Choctaw Nation is continuing to progress as he heads toward the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 21.
Choctaw Nation defended his title in the San Diego Handicap on July 24, and on Tuesday at Del Mar he had his first work since that victory, a half-mile in 48.40 seconds. Amy Mullins, Jeff's wife, was aboard.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Don Leifeld is living his dream. After nurturing his D & L Trucking Company in Nebraska, he sold the business and decided to train the horses he owned.
Leifeld, 50, has now relocated to Southern California. He is based out of Santa Anita, but on Thursday he will be at Del Mar with the best horse in his barn, the 6-year-old mare Siphon Honey, who looks like the one to beat in the day's featured seventh race, a $61,000, second-level allowance at 6 1/2 furlongs for older fillies and mares.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Off to a hot start at Saratoga, including a thrilling victory by Artie Schiller in Monday's Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap, trainer Jimmy Jerkens hopes to continue his winning ways Thursday when he saddles Karakorum Splendor in the $250,000 Statue of Liberty division of the New York Stallion Stakes.
Only six 3-year-old fillies sired by New York-based stallions were entered for the 1 1/8-mile dirt race. None of the six is proven at the distance. , the only two-turn winner in the field, has lost five of her last six starts by double-digit lengths.
CHICAGO - Derek Lee led the major leagues as of Tuesday with a .360 batting average. Big deal. Mark Guidry is batting .380 after almost a month of riding at Arlington.
Arlington held 19 races over the weekend, and Guidry won seven of them, including the $300,000 Washington Park Handicap with Perfect Drift, one of Guidry's four victories on Saturday's card. Arlington ran 11 turf races last week: Guidry rode in six of them, won four, and finished second in another. His timing and sense of pace on grass recently have been nearly flawless.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey Rafael Bejarano will miss the remainder of the Saratoga meet after an MRI on Tuesday revealed a hairline fracture of his right ankle suffered during a mishap in the gate on Monday.
Bejarano was fitted with a cast to stabilize the ankle, according to his agent, Joe Ferrer. Bejarano must wear that cast for 3 to 4 weeks. Following that, he will be fitted with another cast that he must wear for about 7 to 10 days. In a perfect world, Ferrer said, Bejarano could return early in the Belmont fall meeting, which starts on Sept. 9.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Park Avenue Ball had his final work for Sunday's Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on Tuesday, working a bullet five furlongs in company with a stablemate at Monmouth Park.
Park Avenue Ball was timed in 1:00 over a fast track. He worked with Bad Rep, a 3-year-old allowance runner. Both horses are trained by Jim Ryerson.
Park Avenue Ball "went a minute and out in 1:13," said Ryerson. "He'll gallop up to the race now. He's ready for Sunday."
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Happy Ticket is the pride of Louisiana with a 9-for-10 record, and when she ships to Saratoga later this month for the Grade 1, $250,000 Ballerina on Aug. 28, she will be teaming with one of New York's best.
John Velazquez will have the mount on Happy Ticket, said Andrew Leggio Jr., who trains the Louisiana Downs-based filly for Stewart Madison. Velazquez is the leading rider at Saratoga, and he leads all riders in earnings in North America.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Trainer Ricardo Perez plans to ask Bad Anne a tough question on Thursday at the Sonoma County Fair, but he is confident she will respond well.
is one of six 3-year-old fillies who will contest the feature race, a $40,000 optional claimer.
Three-time winner , runner-up in the Fairfield Stakes at Solano, is also a serious contender.
But Bad Anne may be something special, based on the Beyer Speed Figure of 91 she got in winning her debut by 5 1/2 lengths at Pleasanton.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Three races carded at six furlongs Tuesday afternoon at Prairie Meadows were instead contested at 5 1/2 furlongs because of a dip in the racing surface in the track's six-furlong chute.
Riders have complained of the dip, which is on approximately the inside four paths of the racing surface, for the past several weeks. The track has repeatedly added surface material to the affected area, but the problem has been recurrent.
