ARCADIA, Calif. – The frustration of watching his horses frequently run well but often finish second and third boiled over for trainer Richard Baltas in late December.
“Second and third. Second and third. That’s all I ever run,” Baltas could be heard saying in Santa Anita’s largely deserted box seat area after a recent major race.
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Mark Casse calls him “one of our greatest accomplishments in the past 40 years,” a strong compliment indeed from the Hall of Fame trainer when talking about Ride a Comet, who has returned from a 26-month layoff to win three straight starts, including Saturday’s Grade 3 Tropical Turf here.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Leading trainer Todd Pletcher and two-time defending jockey champion Irad Ortiz Jr. closed out the week on a high note, with Pletcher posting three victories on Sunday’s card and Ortiz doing him one better with a four-bagger that culminated with a score aboard odds-on Mischevious Alex in the $52,000 allowance feature.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Aidan Butler, chief operating officer for Gulfstream Park owner The Stronach Group, said last weekend that there are no plans to allow the general public to attend the races at Gulfstream Park during the Championship meeting.
:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Gulfstream Park Clocker Report
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – This week’s racing schedule has a tweak due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. While there will be no live racing Thursday, the four-day race-week will remain intact with programs Friday through Monday.
Three stakes, each worth $100,000, are scheduled over the weekend, with the Franklin Square for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies on Saturday, the Ladies Handicap for older females on Sunday, and the Interborough for older female sprinters on Monday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. felt he was just starting to get rolling in New York last winter when the pandemic hit. From Feb. 17 through March 14, Vargas won nine races, including three stakes, before racing came to a halt.
“It was a shame,” Vargas said Sunday at Aqueduct. “End of February, March I started getting into a rhythm, won some very good races. Unfortunately, COVID happened. But everything happens for a reason. We’re here now.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gulfstream Park officials issued new invitation lists late Sunday for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup and the $1 million Pegasus Turf, both to be run Jan. 23.
The original Pegasus invitees included the Bob Baffert pair of Mucho Gusto, who was retired last week, and Charlatan, who most likely will bypass the Pegasus in favor of the Feb. 20 Saudi Cup. Now in the main body of the Pegasus are King Guillermo and Math Wizard, both of whom had been also-eligibles on the original list.
Nova Rags is among the projected starters in the Pasco Stakes, one of three stakes to be run Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.
Nova Rags won a maiden-special sprint at Belmont Park in his Oct. 10 career debut prior to finishing fourth as the 5-2 third choice in his only subsequent start, the Grade 3 Nashua on Nov. 8 at Aqueduct. The Union Rags colt has since been regrouped by trainer Bill Mott with six workouts at Payson Park, the latest being a half-mile breeze Saturday in 49.20 seconds.
Into Chocolate, winner of the Grade 3 Sherwood Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita last September, was recently retired and will be bred to Constitution in coming months, trainer Clifford Sise said Friday.
Owned and bred by Marty and Pam Wygod, Into Chocolate finished fifth in the McConnell Springs Stakes at Keeneland on Nov. 6 in her final start. Sise said breathing issues contributed to the decision.
“She had a couple of issues displacing, so we decided to retire her,” he said.
