Churchill Downs will distribute $10 million in stakes purses during this year’s Kentucky Derby week, including $120,000 in a stakes race re-named for the Hall of Fame rider Isaac Murphy, the son of a former slave who won three of the early runnings of the Kentucky Derby.
PHOENIX – Jockey Glenn Corbett notched career win No. 4,000 in the fourth race Monday at Turf Paradise when he guided Arabian Story to victory.
The 55-year-old, who posted his first win at Penn National in 1985, had Arabian Story ($10.40) well back early in the six-furlong allowance/optional-claiming race, steadily advanced to the far turn, angled to the inside, rallied to take the lead by the eighth pole, and drew off to win by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:10.06. The 5-year-old gelded son of Fed Biz is owned by Terri Ferguson and trained by Chad Ferguson.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez has been suspended three racing days for causing interference that led to the disqualification of his mount in Saturday’s 11th race at Santa Anita.
Velazquez, 49, was cited for his ride on Following Sea, who bumped with Mr. Impossible on the backstretch of a maiden special weight race at six furlongs. Following Sea and Mr. Impossible finished second and third behind Defunded. Following Sea, the 9-10 favorite, was demoted from second to third after an inquiry.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Idol made his first start at Churchill Downs last September, finishing second in a maiden special weight race on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby program.
On Dec. 26, Idol was second in his stakes debut in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita, one of five stakes on the traditional opening day of the winter-spring meeting.
Saturday, Idol won the first stakes of his career in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, the track’s top race for older horses on dirt.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Only 12 fillies and mares were nominated to the highlight of the coming weekend at Gulfstream, the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie on Saturday – and easily the most accomplished on the roster, Frank’s Rockette, probably will bypass the $100,000 race to wait instead on the $250,000 Carousel on April 10 at Oaklawn Park, according to Riley Mott, assistant to his father, trainer Bill Mott.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There’s a vacuum atop the national ranks of 3-year-old fillies, and Todd Pletcher is hoping to fill it for Shadwell Stable.
Pletcher will breeze the Shadwell pair of Malathaat and Zaajel together again Saturday at his Palm Beach Downs base as the unbeaten 3-year-old fillies draw closer to their final respective qualifiers for the April 30 Kentucky Oaks. Malathaat likely goes in the March 27 Gulfstream Park Oaks, while Zaajel will be shipped out for the March 20 Fair Grounds Oaks.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – All the rain here Saturday and into Sunday morning altered the training schedules of many horses based at Gulfstream Park, with Monday’s work tab not only far larger than normal but star-studded as well.
Among the big names to breeze under unseasonably cool and windy skies here Monday morning were Mr Freeze, Mischevious Alex, Ny Traffic, and Chance It.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Swiss Skydiver’s final work prior to her much anticipated 4-year-old debut may not have gone exactly as trainer Ken McPeek planned here last Saturday, but it certainly went well enough for the Eclipse Award winner to get the green light to launch her 2021 campaign this coming Saturday in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. –Trainer Robertino Diodoro found himself at a crossroads in his early 20s. He could make the final push needed for a career in hockey after being a goalie since the age of 6 or he could turn to the other sport he grew up in, horse racing.
Diodoro at that point had dedicated most of his life to both, making the year-round commitments hockey requires of athletes one step from the pros, while working alongside his family at the tracks on the circuit in his native Alberta, Canada.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Dayoutoftheoffice, runner-up in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in her most recent start, breezed a half-mile Friday at Tampa in 49.40 seconds in her first timed workout since Jan. 24.
Trainer Tim Hamm has been insistent that he can make the April 30 Kentucky Oaks with Dayoutoftheoffice, with one qualifying prep in the interim. Dayoutoftheoffice, winner of the Schuylerville and Frizette last year in New York, was 22-1 in the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager that closed Sunday.
