Hold off on the retirement cards for Quarter Horse trainer John Cooper.
Cooper, who turns 83 in January, won the 1,500th race of his career at Los Alamitos with Apollitical Pence in the $600,000 Champion of Champions last Saturday. The presence of that gelding in the stable and the insistence of longtime clients Jerryl and Dana Hartley that he continue training were the leading factors in the decision, Cooper said.
The undefeated 2-year-old Jaxon Traveler is under consideration for an upcoming stakes at Aqueduct, according to trainer Steve Asmussen.
Jaxon Traveler is 3 for 3, winning his starts by a combined margin of 14 3/4 lengths. His latest came in the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity on Dec. 5 at Laurel Park. Asmussen said the horse is now back at Belmont Park.
“The Jimmy Winkfield at Aqueduct is a possibility,” he said.
The seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds is Jan. 31. It has a purse of $100,000.
Trainer Roger Brueggemann passed away Tuesday, a victim of COVID-19 at age 75.
Brueggemann had been hospitalized with a serious case of the virus and had been gravely ill for quite some time. He was an active trainer based in Chicago up to the time of his death.
Brueggemann gained national prominence – and found surprising high-level success – when he began training for Midwest Thoroughbreds in 2010. That association brought Work All Week, who would win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2014, and The Pizza Man, who won the 2015 Arlington Million.
Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Penn., has canceled its Wednesday night live race card in advance of a forecast predicting a major snowstorm arriving in the area on Wednesday morning, the track announced on Tuesday.
Penn National will reschedule the entire card for Dec. 23, the track said, which was already scheduled as a live racing date. With Wednesday’s card eliminated, Penn National has five live racing dates scheduled for the remainder of the year.
The Grade 2 Charles Town Classic was pushed back on the calendar this year from its usual mid-April date to late August because of the coronavirus pandemic and for the first time was run on the same card as the West Virginia track’s other graded race, the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks. The result was good enough that Charles Town will retain the format for 2021.
Remington Park in Oklahoma City has postponed its Monday and Tuesday cards to next Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 21-22, the track announced.
Remington had originally delayed the start of its Monday card from noon to 2:30 p.m. because of freezing temperatures overnight, but later announced the program would be moved to next week as would Tuesday. There is more severe weather in the forecast.
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Harvest Moon has returned to trainer Simon Callaghan’s stable at Santa Anita after a brief rest following a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland on Nov. 7.
“We gave her a little break at the farm,” Callaghan said on Sunday. “She’s been back for the last three or four days at Santa Anita.”
Callaghan said the Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares at a mile at Santa Anita on March 13 is an early-season goal for Harvest Moon.
Weston, the winner of the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar in August, is under consideration for Saturday’s Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity after a fast workout at Santa Anita over the weekend.
Weston worked a half-mile in 46.40 seconds on Saturday, the fastest of 68 works at the distance.
“He’s a really good work horse,” trainer and co-owner Ryan Hanson said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Grade 3 Mr. Prospector highlights Saturday’s card, with Lasting Legacy tuning up for the race with a sharp half-mile work in 47.89 seconds here Monday, his final quarter in 22.72, before galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.62 under Jacqueline Higgins, local assistant to trainer Bob Hess Jr.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Todd Pletcher has had many big days during his near two-decade reign as training champion of the Gulfstream Park Championship meeting. But few of those exceeded Pletcher’s accomplishments here last Saturday, a four-win afternoon topped by longshot Largent’s surprising victory in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes.
