Jockey Flavien Prat had a quick commute on his way to making Santa Anita history on Sunday.
Prat is staying in an RV in a track parking lot on race nights during the coronavirus outbreak, a short walk to the jockeys’ room. That path led Prat to a career-best day Sunday in which he won six times from nine mounts on a 10-race program.
“It was one of those days when everything worked out,” Prat said late Sunday afternoon. “It was really nice.”
Tiz the Law is ready to go home.
Trainer Barclay Tagg said Monday that in light of the recent announcement that racing will begin again at Belmont Park the first week of June, he is tentatively planning to ship Tiz the Law and the rest of his stable back to New York on June 1.
LOUISVILLE, KY. – Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, whose 22 meet titles are most in Churchill history, is looking to overtake Dale Romans for most overall wins under the twin spires. Asmussen trails Romans by a 737-730 count after both went winless on opening weekend.
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LOUISVILLE, KY. – Chimney Rock reversed his defeat to Four Wheel Drive in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint last fall when he got up in the final strides Sunday to win a $58,309 turf-sprint allowance for 3-year-olds. Chimney Rock, a Louisiana-bred, earned a career-high 87 Beyer Speed Figure.
LOUISVILLE, KY. – Cherie DeVaux and Churchill go together just swell. The 38-year-old New Yorker registered the only training double of the Saturday opener when sending out Dinar ($7.20) and Reagan’s Edge ($27) to win off-the-turf allowances.
DeVaux began a solo career in May 2018 after nearly eight years as an assistant to Chad Brown. Her only prior two-win day came on closing weekend of the 2019 Churchill fall meet. She had hoped to enjoy a productive winter when based at Payson Park, but her stable went 1 for 25 at Gulfstream Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Such is the dearth of live sporting events in America these days that the results of an allowance race can become a news item on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
Surely the national recognition came about because the coronavirus crisis has rendered all other major sports idle, but let the record show that the comeback victory by Monomoy Girl in a Saturday allowance at Churchill Downs meant the world to trainer Brad Cox, regardless of who else noticed.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of what she’s done,” Cox said. “She’s just an unbelievable horse.”
Authentic, an undefeated two-time stakes winner, worked six furlongs in 1:11 on Sunday at Santa Anita for a scheduled start in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on June 6.
Authentic won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 7 in what was intended to be a prep for the original date of the Santa Anita Derby on April 4.
Ce Ce, who has stormed to the front of the older female division with consecutive graded stakes wins at Santa Anita and Oaklawn Park in recent months, is likely to run in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes on May 31 at Santa Anita.
Ce Ce worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 on Sunday at Santa Anita, her second workout since a head victory in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 18 at Oaklawn Park. A 4-year-old filly, Ce Ce won her first stakes in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 14 at Santa Anita.
River Boyne, the star California miler, and War of Will, the 2019 Preakness Stakes winner, will be part of a large field in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on May 25 at Santa Anita, a race with long-term ramifications for the turf mile division.
The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland in November.
The $300,000 Shoemaker Mile could have a double-digit field. As of Sunday, runners such as Blitzkrieg, Majestic Eagle, March to the Arch, Neptune’s Storm, Next Shares, True Valour, and Voodoo Song are other probable starters.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine Entertainment announced Saturday that two horses from Barn 12 at Woodbine tested positive for equine herpesvirus. EHV-1, after they were sent to the University of Guelph for testing and treatment.
Three other horses were removed from Barn 12 and were quarantined for precautionary measures. The other horses in that barn will not be permitted outside the barn until test results are received on them. Only after clearance is provided through testing will those horses will be allowed to train at a designated time.
