ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Il Malocchio won the fastest of the three wildly run 7 1/2-furlong inner turf races for 2-year-olds on Sunday at Woodbine, taking her maiden victory in the $100,000 Victorian Queen Stakes for fillies.
Trained by Marty Drexler, Il Malocchio gave owner-breeder Frank Meli his first stakes victory. She was Meli’s second juvenile winner at the meet, after the quirky Nero Davola.
Delta Downs in Vinton, La., has announced its Thoroughbred meet could start in late November as it continues repairing damage caused by Hurricane Laura.
Delta had been scheduled to open Oct. 6 and race for 84 dates through Feb. 27. But officials had to postpone the meet indefinitely after the Aug. 27 hurricane, which took out the track’s tote board, upended a starting gate, downed power lines, and left a large amount of debris in the stable area.
Win Win Win, who splashed his way from last to first to win the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 29, has been retired from racing due to a tendon injury to his right foreleg, his connections announced on Monday.
Stallion plans were pending according to a press release.
Trainer Mike Trombetta said Monday that Win Win Win showed heat and inflammation in his right foreleg over the weekend and that he told owner/breeder Charlotte Weber that generally means an injured tendon. Weber races under the Live Oak Plantation banner.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Last year, trainer Chad Brown grappled with the decision to run Bricks and Mortar in the Breeders’ Cup Turf or Mile. He eventually chose the Turf and was rewarded when Bricks and Mortar captured that race to complete a perfect season and win Horse of the Year honors.
He has a similar decision to make with Digital Age, recent winner of the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After warm and dry conditions dominated the majority of the month at Belmont Park, some rain and cooler temperatures are forecast to end September and usher in October. On that front, the timing couldn’t be better for trainer Bill Mott, at least as far as his three-time Grade 1 winner Channel Maker is concerned.
When Channel Maker runs in Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Mott would certainly like to see the Belmont turf course less firm than it has been for the first two weeks of the meet, when firm ground led to some really quick times.
Jack Sisterson was at Santa Anita on Saturday to saddle Calumet Farm’s Notable Exception for a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes. But meanwhile, Sisterson’s operation was busy, sending out 15 Calumet horses from his private Rice Road barn to work Saturday morning at Keeneland.
Steve Asmussen and Tyler Gaffalione secured the training and riding titles, respectively, at the Churchill Downs September meet that ended Sunday.
Asmussen led Brad Cox with 12 wins to 8 at the meet, despite a strong start for Cox, who saddled Shedaresthedevil to win the Kentucky Oaks, Monomoy Girl to win the Grade 1 La Troienne, and Beau Recall to win the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile.
It was a record-extending 24th leading trainer title at Churchill Downs for Asmussen, who became Churchill’s all-time wins leader in June.
Mr. Money had a lucrative campaign in 2019, winning four graded stakes, but had struggled to find the win column in 2020. He finally cashed in with a victory in the Grade 3 Ack Ack Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs that likely earned him a return engagement in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Between the two of them, trainers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas have won the Preakness Stakes 13 times, and they’ve amassed 30 Triple Crown race wins. That’s a lot of success and experience to bring to hand for one horse, and this year they’ve combined forces for the final leg of the out-of-order 2020 Triple Crown, with Authentic.
Authentic, the Kentucky Derby winner, completed his preparation for the Preakness Stakes on Saturday with a workout Monday morning at Churchill Downs that was officially credited as a half-mile in 47.60 seconds, but included a gallop out of another quarter-mile.
Authentic's half-mile time was the fastest of 37 at the distance on Monday.
Working alone, Authentic clicked off fractions of 12.20 seconds and 24. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:00, and six furlongs in 1:13.40.
