Trainers Rafael DeLeon and Gary Mandella were recently fined by Los Alamitos stewards for violations at Santa Anita earlier this year.
DeLeon was fined $750 for failing to disclose that Broken Finger was scheduled to race as a gelding on May 22 in his debut. Broken Finger was withdrawn and was later sixth in maiden races at Santa Anita on June 1 and June 15.
Trainers are required to correctly report if a horse is racing as a gelding, even first-time starters.
The coronavirus outbreak has affected more than just the people who own and operate racing stables.
In the spring, when racing was temporarily halted at Santa Anita because of the pandemic, trainer Shelbe Ruis gave the 4-year-old filly Sedamar a brief rest.
“We didn’t know when the next race would be,” Ruis recalled Wednesday.
When racing resumed at Santa Anita, Sedamar finished second to Super Patriot by 1 3/4 lengths in the Fran’s Valentine Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race on turf for California-bred fillies and mares on June 6.
By My Standards and Mr. Money, the standout 4-year-olds in the Bret Calhoun barn, are training toward Aug. 1 starts. By My Standards goes next in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga, and Mr. Money goes in the West Virginia Governor’s Cup at Mountaineer.
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Churchill has released the balance of the stakes schedule for Kentucky Derby week (Sept. 1-5) with the Grade 1 Churchill Downs being the most notable absentee from the traditional slate. Grade 1 races such as the Old Forester Turf Classic, the La Troienne, and the newly named Derby City (formerly Humana) Distaff will be run as usual on the Oaks and Derby undercards.
There was some question as to whether Rushing Fall would ever race again after finishing a dull fourth as the favorite in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland last fall. But when the now 5-year-old mare returned from a freshening over the winter, her owner, Bob Edwards of eFive Racing, felt compelled to give her a shot at redemption.
“We didn’t want her to end on that note,” Edwards said. “When she came back, she’d put on weight and was carrying great flesh. She just had that look about her.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Among the many new looks at Saratoga this summer will be the co-feature on Thursday’s opening-day program, the Grade 3, $100,000 Peter Pan Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles.
Typically run in May as a prep for the Belmont Stakes, the Peter Pan was moved to this spot for horsemen to consider using as a prep for the Runhappy Travers on Aug. 8 or, perhaps as a stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. The Peter Pan offers 85 points (50-20-10-5) to its top four finishers toward the Derby.
Two invaders from California and one from Florida comprise half the field of 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 1, $400,000 Ashland Stakes, a major prep on the road to the Kentucky Oaks.
Venetian Harbor and Speech are in from California, while Tonalist’s Shape is in from Florida for the Ashland, which will be run Saturday at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., for the 83rd time. The 1 1/16-mile race is worth 100-40-20-10 points toward the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Tiz the Law, the Belmont Stakes winner, worked five furlongs in 1:01.18 on Wednesday morning over Belmont Park’s training track as he prepares for a start in the $1 million Runhappy Travers Stakes on Aug. 8 at Saratoga.
With jockey Manny Franco aboard, Tiz the Law came on the track following the renovation break at 8:45 a.m. He was accompanied by trainer Barclay Tagg on the stable pony until the six-furlong pole before he turned loose Tiz the Law.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Bob Baffert will find himself in the rare role of hunter instead of hunted in a graded stakes in New York when he sends out Mother Mother against the champion Monomoy Girl in Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Ruffian Stakes at Belmont Park.
Mother Mother was one of just four horses entered against Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018. With only five horses in the field, the Ruffian will go as race 4 on a 10-race card that begins at 1:15 p.m. Eastern.
Kenny McPeek sang a familiar refrain when revealing Wednesday that Swiss Skydiver will run against males Saturday in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
“This has already been one of the weirdest years ever,” said McPeek, referring to the far-reaching repercussions of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “Might as well add to it.”
