DEL MAR, Calif. – The abandonment of grass racing at Churchill Downs next week could result in Imperador and In Love, who were slated for the Grade 3 River City on Friday, instead coming to Del Mar for the Grade 2, $200,000 Seabiscuit at 1 1/16 miles on turf Nov. 28. Both Imperador – a two-time Group 1 winner in his native Argentina – and In Love are South American imports trained by Paulo Lobo.
Chad Brown could run Flavius, fifth most recently in the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Sharing, winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf for trainer Graham Motion, is expected to face as many as three runners from Chad Brown’s barn in the Grade 1, $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for older females at one mile on turf Nov. 29.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Led by Grade 1 winners Decorated Invader, Gufo, and Sharing, a strong group of horses from prominent Eastern barns such as Christophe Clement, Graham Motion, Chad Brown, Brad Cox, and Mike Maker are all expected for the final week of racing at Del Mar, which includes seven graded grass stakes over the final four days of the meet, which closes Nov. 29.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With shorter fields in evidence because of the track’s decision to close the turf course for the meet, a pair of allowances will anchor a nine-race Sunday card at Churchill Downs likely to be run over sloppy going.
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Race 4 is an $87,000 first-level route in which four of the six 2-year-olds entered were last-out maiden winners – Joe Frazier, El Sobreviviente, Angkor, and Starrininmydreams.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – By My Standards had his final pre-race work toward the Grade 1 Clark when breezing a half-mile in 49.40 seconds before dawn Friday at Churchill Downs.
By My Standards, a winner of three Grade 2 stakes earlier this year, can be expected to vie for favoritism with New York shipper Code of Honor next Friday, Nov. 27, in the $500,000 Clark. They’re expected to be part of a sizable field of 3-year-olds and up in the 1 1/8-mile race that highlights the final week of the Churchill fall meet.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the disappointment of having to scratch King Guillermo out of the Kentucky Derby less than 72 hours before the race in the rearview mirror, trainer Juan Avila continues preparations for the final chapter of his star-crossed 3-year-old’s 2020 campaign, which will come on Dec. 5 at Aqueduct in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Linda Rice on Thursday concluded two days of testimony under direct examination, downplaying the significance of information sent to her by New York Racing Association employees about races she was considering entering horses in that had yet to be drawn and denying that she paid money to get that information.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Woodbine Entertainment COVID-19 Health and Safety Committee confirmed in a press release Thursday that an active jockey at Woodbine has tested positive for COVID-19. The jockey is believed to be Sunny Singh, who was off his mounts Thursday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs officials announced Thursday that no more turf racing will be conducted for the balance of a meet, which runs through Nov. 29, so the two graded races that remained on the stakes schedule will not be run. They are the Grade 3 Cardinal, which had been set for Thursday, and the Grade 3 River City on Friday.
