Lure Him In was very nearly the first winner of 2021 at Santa Anita.
On New Year’s Day, Lure Him In was beaten a nose by Goalie in an allowance race at 1 1/4 miles on turf. Lure Him In had trouble in early stretch. It was not until later that trainer Bob Hess Jr. saw the extent of the traffic.
“I wish I would have claimed foul,” Hess said Thursday.
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On Nov. 6, Hot Rod Charlie finished second at 94-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland, losing by three-quarters of a length to Essential Quality. On Dec. 19, The Great One finished second at 33-1 by a nose to Spielberg in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity.
Both are trained by Doug O’Neill, who is hopeful the longshots of the late autumn can become well-backed winners on the next two Saturdays at Santa Anita.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There are always winners and losers at the post position draw for races run at 1 1/8 miles on the main track at Gulfstream Park because of the relatively short run to the first turn. And Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational was no exception.
Restrainedvengence won three stakes at three venues and earned $265,500 in a seven-race campaign in 2020. Trainer Val Brinkerhoff expects more this year, beginning in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf Feb. 6 at Santa Anita.
Recently, Restrainedvengence has been fitted with glue-on shoes as opposed to conventional shoes applied with nails. Brinkerhoff said the 6-year-old gelding has been “a lot better to handle.”
“He’s a lot more relaxed,” Brinkerhoff said. “I think he’ll be a better horse this year.
Juan Hernandez, the leading rider at the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, was fined $1,000 by track stewards on Monday for excessive use of the whip.
Hernandez was cited for using his whip more than six times on Lucky Peridot, who finished fourth in Sunday’s Grade 3 Astra Stakes. Hernandez was sanctioned for his third such offense in the last 60 days.
The California Horse Racing Board toughened whip rules in October, limiting the frequency of strikes allowed in a race and mandating that whips be used only in an under-handed fashion.
Collusion Illusion, winner of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar last summer, will not start in Saturday’s Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita.
Trainer Mark Glatt said Collusion Illusion will be rested for a campaign in the second half of the year geared toward the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
“He’s going to skip the race,” Glatt said Wednesday. “We’re going to have a little bit of a break with him.
“He’s had a bit of a campaign. Recently, his attitude hasn’t been the best.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Excellent Timing, a New York-bred son of Not This Time whom Charlton Baker trained to a 7 1/4-length maiden victory on Dec. 10 at Aqueduct, was sold and is now with trainer Chad Brown.
Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stable, Marc and Joe Lore’s Wonder Stable, and Michael Dubb are equal partners on the horse, according to Kumin.
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When Charlton Baker claimed Tenderfoot last summer at Saratoga, jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., who had ridden the horse in that race, had a message for Baker.
“He told me he’s a nice horse, you’re going to have a lot of fun with this horse,” Baker said.
So far, Santana has proven prophetic.
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Win, lose, or dead heat, Harpers First Ride will change barns following his run Saturday in the Pegasus World Cup. A winner in 9 of 14 starts, all for Claudio Gonzalez, the 5-year-old Maryland-bred gelding will be sent to Robertino Diodoro at Oaklawn Park after the race.
The Pegasus World Cup is a world-class event, but one wouldn’t have had to look much farther than the blue-collar neighborhoods surrounding Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., to find the principal players in this fifth running of the $3 million race Saturday.
