Extra Hope, a 4-year-old colt who has won his last two starts, has a chance to enhance his position among California’s older horses with an expected appearance in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.
Extra Hope worked a half-mile in 48.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Monday, his first workout since a win in the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes against three rivals at Del Mar on Nov. 21.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – To Kendrick Carmouche, it was never about ability. It was always about opportunity.
This fall, Carmouche took advantage of the opportunity afforded him by horsemen and won the Aqueduct fall meet riding title, his first title since moving his tack to New York from Parx Racing in 2015. Carmouche won 23 races at the 18-day fall stand, four more than Jose Lezcano.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Christophe Clement won his first trainer’s title on the New York Racing Association circuit, taking the Aqueduct fall meet title with 16 wins, one more than trainer Todd Pletcher. Aqueduct’s 18-day fall meet concluded Sunday.
The title comes after Clement finished second in both the Belmont spring and fall meets and tied for third at Saratoga.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - While admitting that he and his partner Mark Schwartz “are Derby dreaming just like everybody else” trainer Daniel Velazquez said he has yet to devise a plan for Remsen winner Brooklyn Strong’s 3-year-old campaign.
Brooklyn Strong, who beat Ten for Ten by a neck in Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Remsen Stakes, returned to Delaware Park on Saturday night. He will soon transition to Parx Racing, where Velazquez will be based this winter.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - True Timber, winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, will return as a 7-year-old with a projected seasonal debut coming in the Grade 1 Pegasus Invitational at Gulfstream on Jan. 23, with the year-end goal being a repeat bid in the Cigar Mile next December, trainer Jack Sisterson said Sunday.
True Timber won his first stakes in his 20th try and broke a 13-race losing streak overall with an authoritative 5 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s $250,000 Cigar Mile. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 99.
CYPRESS, Calif. - Princess Noor, the winner of two graded stakes for 2-year-old fillies in California during September, has been retired after sustaining a soft-tissue injury in Saturday’s Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos.
Trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday that Princess Noor was not in any distress, but that owner Amr Zedan had made the decision to retire the filly. Princess Noor is expected to be bred in early 2021.
“She’s not uncomfortable,” Baffert said. “She’s going to need some time off anyway. She’s worth a lot of money.”
Sunland Park received approval to postpone the beginning of its meet by 30 days during a special meeting of the New Mexico Racing Commission on Friday. The track was to have opened its mixed meet on Dec. 26.
The issue will be revisited at a January meeting. The vote was unanimous.
Goin’ Good was much too good for Indiana Grand fillies debuting in a turf sprint Sept. 21, and on Sunday she’ll take on allowance males in the featured fourth race at Fair Grounds.
This race, for 2-year-olds, is open to first-level allowance horses or $50,000 claimers and carded at about 5 1/2 furlongs on grass. The temporary turf rail is scheduled to be set at eight feet, as has been the case all racing week.
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Mystic Guide is back on the work tab as his connections plot a path to the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. The progressive 3-year-old colt, trained by Mike Stidham for Godophin, worked a half mile in 48.80 seconds on Tuesday at Fair Grounds, his first breeze following a short fall freshening.
Mystic Guide’s most recent start came Oct. 10, when he finished second to fellow 3-year-old Happy Saver in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, after which Stidham lightened up on the colt’s training before a push toward his 4-year-old campaign.
