SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Guarana, a three-time Grade 1-winning filly, will not make a scheduled start in next Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga, trainer Chad Brown said Friday.
“She had a setback, she’s not going to be able to run,” Brown said. “We’re getting her looked at right now. We sent her to Rood and Riddle, but she didn’t come out of her last work well.”
On July 25, Guarana worked a half-mile in 50.03 seconds over the Saratoga main track.
This has been a poignant start to the Del Mar summer meeting for the family of the late Gerald Benowitz, a co-owner of the famous California gelding Soi Phet.
Gerald Benowitz died after a brief illness on July 8 at the age of 75. The family continues to run a small group of horses, including Proud Pedro, the winner of an allowance race on turf on July 24, and Guitty, who was second in the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on July 25.
The Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby and the Springboard Mile for 2-year-olds will be the co-richest races during the upcoming meet at Remington Park. Each is worth $200,000.
The stakes were worth $400,000 apiece a year ago, but due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Remington has had to reduce some of its stakes purses.
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Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Stewart Elliott enters Sunday’s card at Lone Star Park five wins from career victory 5,000. He had a four-bagger at the track Wednesday to push his win count to 4,995.
Elliott has won 42 races at the Lone Star meet to lead the standings by one win over Ramon Vazquez heading into Sunday.
In another milestone watch, Oklahoma-based jockey Floyd Wethey Jr. is nearing 1,000 career Thoroughbred wins in North America. He was at 993 through Thursday.
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Trainer Karl Broberg appears poised for a big afternoon Sunday at Lone Star Park.
But don’t tell him that.
“After the way last week went for me – we thought the stars were aligned for us and they weren’t – I’m not about to over-pump anything,” he said.
Broberg has horses entered in eight of the nine races on the card, and most will start as top contenders. They include Carlos Sixes and She’s Divine, the probable favorites in separate allowances that serve as the co-features.
CHICAGO – Arlington Park’s days are numbered, with the iconic suburban Chicago racetrack likely to be sold, presumably for redevelopment, in the not-too-distant future.
Bill Carstanjen, chief executive officer of Churchill Downs Inc., said during a Thursday conference call discussing CDI’s second-quarter results that the land on which Arlington sits will at some point be sold.
“We’ve been patient and thoughtful and constructive with the parties up in that jurisdiction, but long term, that land gets sold,” Carstanjen said.
The Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares on Sunday has a projected field of six – the stakes winners Ce Ce, Dogtag, Fighting Mad, Hard Not to Love, and Ollie’s Candy, and the stakes-placed Hang a Star.
The $250,000 Hirsch is run at 1 1/16 miles and is the leading race of the summer meeting for older fillies and mares. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
Vittorio caught trainer Simon Callaghan’s attention last month with a one-furlong workout in 9.4 seconds prior to the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training.
The fast breeze led owner Kaleem Shah to pay $750,000 for the colt, one of the most expensive prospects at the four-day sale.
Callaghan’s enthusiasm has not waned in advance of Vittorio’s debut in a maiden special weight race at five furlongs Saturday at Del Mar.
Del Mar has retroactively raised overnight purses 10 percent from the start of the summer meeting on July 10, restoring most of a reduction made earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The purse increase was announced on Thursday, made possible by strong handle from account-wagering sources. Through Monday, the seventh day of the season, total all-sources handle was $133.8 million compared to $126.9 million in the first 11 days of the 2019 summer meeting, track president Josh Rubinstein said earlier this week.
The Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby and the Springboard Mile for 2-year-olds will be the co-richest races for the Remington Park meet, the Oklahoma City track announced Wednesday.
Each race is worth $200,000. Last year, the stakes were worth $400,000 apiece, but due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic Remington has had to reduce some of its stakes purses.
