HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - While many of the top 3-year-old prospects stabled in south Florida this winter were in action on Saturday's card, one highly regarded member of the class remains several weeks away from his first start of the year.
Straight Line's five-length victory in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs was one of the more impressive juvenile performances of 2004, but he was forced to the sidelines less than two weeks later after suffering a puncture wound in his hock.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A year ago, El Prado Rob, Silver Wagon, and Value Plus were competing in Gulfstream Park's elite stakes for 3-year-olds, the Holy Bull, Fountain of Youth, and Florida Derby. Each colt, however, has not won a race since that meet. In an attempt to resurrect their once-promising careers, they will take a step back and meet one another in Sunday's featured ninth race at Gulfstream, a second-level allowance sprint at 6 1/2 furlongs that carries a purse of $35,000.
Calder Race Course will hold a three-race series for 3-year-olds and up that will mirror the Triple Crown, to be called The Senior Triple.
The series will consist of three $50,000 stakes to be run on the same days and at the same distances as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes.
The Old Kentucky Home will be run at 1 1/4 miles on May 7, the Maryland My Maryland at 1 3/16 miles on May 21, and the 1 1/2-mile New York New York will complete the series on June 11.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Randy Morse has a pair of promising 3-year-olds based at Oaklawn this meet. One of them, Jonesboro, won by more than eighth lengths Jan. 21. The other, Can't Trick Jake, is a top candidate in Sunday's featured eighth race.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - T.V. Smith knows all about workouts, having trained Thoroughbred racehorses since 1961. But, this winter, the only workouts involving Smith are the ones at his local YMCA in his adopted hometown of Louisville.
"I tell people I've been going to the Y to save my life, not to become a jock or anything," said Smith, who underwent triple-bypass heart surgery in late September.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Dale Bennett, an up-and-coming trainer who has recently picked up four horses for prominent Chicago owner Frank Calabrese, is making a splash in his first meet at Oaklawn.
He has won with 3 of his first 8 starters, and his biggest guns, Wonone, a promising 3-year-old, and stakes winners Cats Copy and Marley's Revenge, will not be seen until later in the meet. In all, Bennett, who spends the rest of the year in Illinois, has 24 horses at Oaklawn.
NEW ORLEANS - The road to the Louisiana Derby gets serious next week as trainers from around the country are making plans to send their 3-year-olds to Fair Grounds to run in the Feb. 12 Risen Star Stakes, the local prep for the Louisiana Derby.
Three colts with serious reputations are expected to ship in late next week. Trainer Todd Pletcher is sending the unbeaten Harlington in after the Unbridled colt won an entry-level allowance race at Gulfstream Park.
Jockey Josh Boyd suffered a fractured skull and fractured ribs when he was thrown from his mount and subsequently hit in the head by another horse during the seventh race at Sunland Park on Jan. 30.
Boyd has undergone brain surgery and is improving, said Glen Murphy, a fellow rider and a Jockeys' Guild representative at Sunland.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Three recently claimed horses figure to be the top three in the feature on an early Super Bowl day card Sunday at Bay Meadows.
Smokette, Chic Domestique, and Carte Madera look tough in a $20,000 claimer for fillies and mares at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.
Trainer R.L. Martin claimed Chic Domestique out of an eight-length victory at Golden Gate Fields on Jan. 21. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer claimed Carte Madera, the runner-up, from the same race. Each will make her first start since the claim.
PORTLAND, Ore. - A quality field of nine Quarter Horses will square off in Sunday's 350-yard featured allowance, an early-bird card at Portland Meadows. The program begins at 11:05 a.m., two hours earlier than normal, to accommodate fans who wish to be home in time to watch the 3:30 p.m. kickoff for the Super Bowl.
