Sat, 03/08/2003 - 00:00

Antonucci back at his best game

OLDSMAR Fla. - The Killer Cuban stable is back.

When Libby's Dreams led from flagfall to finish to capture Friday's third race, it marked the fifth straight winner sent out by trainer Pete Antonucci. The streak was snapped later in the day when Dinner Withawinner broke slowly and failed to hit the board in a turf allowance race.

Antonucci's stable, which runs in distinctive orange silks, is nicknamed the "Killer Cuban" stable after the signature sandwich on the menu at the sandwich shop owned by Antonucci and Susan Hammer, who owns the stable's horses.

Sat, 03/08/2003 - 00:00

Nonsuch Bay vs. bias

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Nonsuch Bay, whose last victory came in the Grade 1 Mother Goose in June, drops into allowance company in Monday's $46,000 feature at Gulfstream Park. The race will be decided at one mile and 70 yards.

Nonsuch Bay has started just four times since the Mother Goose. She finished fifth in both the Grade 1 Alabama and Grade 1 Gazelle Handicap and second in Belmont's Pebbles Handicap to close out her 3-year-old season. She opened her 2003 campaign with a late-running third in the Grade 3, seven-furlong Shirley Jones Handicap.

Sat, 03/08/2003 - 00:00

Knee chip shelves Gygistar

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Timing, it seems, is not Gygistar's strong suit.

Last fall, two weeks before the Breeders' Cup, Gygistar suffered a severe foot injury that prevented him from running in the $1 million Sprint.

Saturday, one week before he was to ship to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen, Gygistar was diagnosed with a chip in his right knee that will sideline him for several months. Gygistar was to undergo surgery in south Florida Saturday to have the chip removed.

Sat, 03/08/2003 - 00:00

Gotham to be run on inner

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The opening of Aqueduct's main track has been delayed indefinitely because of persistent winter weather in New York. The main track originally was scheduled to open on Wednesday, but last week the opening was pushed back by two days and now racing will be conducted on the inner track at least through Sunday.

Sat, 03/08/2003 - 00:00

Seven Four Seven gets up in time

It wasn't nearly as easy as last time, but Seven Four Seven still was able to get up in the final yards Saturday to post a neck victory over Town Queen in the $50,000 Wintergreen Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

Jason Lumpkins was aboard Seven Four Seven, who returned $3.20 as the heavy favorite in a field of eight fillies and mares. Seven Four Seven, a 5-year-old mare owned by Sam Pollock and trained by Bernie Flint, had won her last start, the Likely Exchange at Turfway, with far greater ease.

Sat, 03/08/2003 - 00:00

My Trusty Cat cozy in blinkers

Coady Photography
My Trusty Cat ($5) is all alone approaching the wire at Oaklawn Saturday, a five-length winner of the $75,000 Honeybee Stakes.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - My Trusty Cat, who was making her first start in blinkers, drew clear to win by five lengths over Ruby's Reception in the $75,000 Honeybee for 3-year-old fillies Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

It was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third to Explosive Beauty, who was the stronger part of a favored entry with Quest for Truth.

Fri, 03/07/2003 - 00:00

No. 1 and No. 2 in La. Derby

Horsephotos
Kafwain (above) will likely be chasing Badge of Silver on Sunday, but his jockey, Victor Espinoza, says, "I will let him come with a run like he always does."

NEW ORLEANS - In an era when small fields are the norm for major stakes races, and when trainers run and hide when they think they can't win, Sunday's $750,000 at Fair Grounds is a refreshing anomaly.

Even though Badge of Silver scored an overpowering victory here in the Risen Star Stakes last month, and vaulted to No. 2 on Daily Racing Form's Derby Watch list, the No. 1 Kentucky Derby contender, Kafwain, has shipped in from California for the race. So, too, have Peace Rules from California and Funny Cide from Florida, two others listed on the Derby Watch's top 25.

Fri, 03/07/2003 - 00:00

They're all good in Santa Margarita

ARCADIA, Calif. - The filly-mare championship of the Santa Anita winter meet is only one starter away from perfection, which is just fine. It makes Sunday's Grade 1 Santa Margarita Handicap the most intriguing stakes race of the season.

"Without Azeri in there, it could be anyone's race," trainer Ron McAnally said.

Fri, 03/07/2003 - 00:00

Cat Genius well placed in return

Cat Genius, who used a high turn of speed to win the first three races of his career before grabbing a quarter as the favorite in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, will make his comeback Sunday night in the $75,000 Sportsman's Paradise for 3-year-olds at Delta Downs in Vinton, La.

The seven-furlong race will be run around two turns, and the distance and configuration is why the front-running Cat Genius, who is one of six stakes winners in the 10-horse field, is here.

Fri, 03/07/2003 - 00:00

Wanted: Jockey for Siberland

ARCADIA, Calif. - In the last five weeks, Siberland has fought through a foot problem and a sore muscle in his hind quarters to remain an outsider on the Triple Crown trail.

In the last few days, trainer Kevin Lewis has faced a new dilemma - choosing a jockey for Siberland, a three-time stakes winner, for the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes next Sunday.