LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With Tyler Gaffalione otherwise occupied at Keeneland, trainer Kenny McPeek has turned to veteran jockey Robby Albarado to ride Swiss Skydiver on Saturday in Preakness 145 at Pimlico in Baltimore.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Graded winner Independence Hall, previously based on the East Coast and a 2020 Derby candidate after impressive wins his first three starts, has relocated to the West Coast and posted his first comeback work Saturday at Santa Anita for new trainer Michael McCarthy with the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes as his main objective.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Kenny McPeek confirmed several hours after Swiss Skydiver breezed Saturday morning at Churchill Downs that the star filly will run against male rivals in the Preakness Stakes next Saturday (Oct. 3) at Pimlico in Baltimore as the final jewel of the 2020 Triple Crown.
“Two horses in there look pretty formidable,” said McPeek, referring to Authentic and Art Collector, the likely favorites for the $1 million Preakness. “Beyond that, we ought to be tough. The filly sure is doing good.”
ELMONT, N.Y. - Country Grammer, winner of the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes at Saratoga, will run in next Saturday’s $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, trainer Chad Brown said Saturday.
Country Grammer, a son of Tonalist owned by Paul Pompa Jr., is coming off a fifth-place finish behind Tiz the Law in the Travers Stakes on Aug. 8. That race was run just 23 days after Country Grammer beat Caracaro in the Peter Pan, a 1 1/8-mile race typically run in May at Belmont that this year was run at Saratoga on July 16.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Letruska, who won the Grade 3 Shuvee at Saratoga, worked five furlongs in 59.67 seconds Friday morning over Belmont Park’s main track in preparation for a start in the Grade 2, $150,000 Beldame Stakes on Oct. 4.
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ELMONT, N.Y. – Mystic Guide, winner of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 5, will most likely bypass Saturday’s Preakness Stakes and make his next start in the Grade 1, $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Oct. 10, trainer Mike Stidham said Friday.
Jockey Vinnie Bednar, who suffered lower-limb paralysis in a one-horse spill at Los Alamitos on Aug. 22, was recently transferred to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., according to a message posted earlier this month on a Gofundme web page launched to defray medical costs.
Craig Hospital specializes in treating people with spinal cord injuries.
Bednar, 28, underwent surgery on his spinal cord on Aug. 23 at USC Medical Center and was hospitalized there until the recent transfer.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Tiz the Law, a three-time Grade 1 winner this year at 3, worked a half-mile in 50.07 seconds Friday morning over the Belmont Park main track, his first work since his runner-up finish to Authentic in the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.
Maxfield, widely regarded as a top Derby contender prior to being injured in June, is back in light training at Churchill Downs with trainer Brendan Walsh.
Maxfield suffered a non-displaced lateral condylar fracture during a June 10 workout at Keeneland. Unbeaten in three career starts, the Godolphin homebred missed about 90 days of training and can be expected back at full strength later in the fall or early winter.
Equine standouts such as Midnight Bisou, Newspaperofrecord, Whitmore, and Halladay are among the expected participants when Keeneland Race Course begins its 17-day fall meet next Friday with the three-day FallStars Weekend.
Ten stakes, all but one of them Win and You’re In events toward the Nov. 6-7 Breeders’ Cup, will get things rolling when the historic Lexington, Ky., track opens. The Grade 1 Alcibiades and Grade 2 Phoenix are the opening-day features, with five stakes set for Saturday and three more for Sunday.
