SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The connections of Cookie Dough were looking for a serious work here Friday from their graded stakes-winning filly in preparation for the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 8. And the speedy South Florida invader did not disappoint, zipping five furlongs in 57.83 seconds over the main track immediately after the renovation break.
:: DRF's Saratoga headquarters – Stakes schedule, previews, recaps, past performances, and more
Donna Veloce, the winner of the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita in March and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last November, worked a half-mile in 50.40 seconds at Del Mar on Friday for an intended start in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Sept. 4.
Donna Veloce has not raced since the Santa Ysabel, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies. She was turned out briefly at a Florida farm in the spring for a rest and returned to trainer Simon Callaghan’s California stable in early June.
Jockey Juan Gutierrez brought Semi Sweet ($15.60) from last to upset 7-5 favorite Gazing in the first race Thursday at Emerald Downs. It was the 2,000th win for the 50-year-old Washington Hall of Fame jockey. He did not rest on his laurels as he proceeded to win the next two races on the 10-race card.
“I feel real good, and it’s an emotional moment for me,” Gutierrez said. “Getting 2,000 wins is great. I always try to be consistent. You can’t do something like that without the help of owners, trainers, grooms, and everyone else on the backstretch."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. won five races Thursday at Saratoga, the second time in his career he has done that.
Ortiz, who only won four races through the first four days of the meet, won Thursday’s second on Thomas Shelby ($6.50), the fourth on Fresco ($3), the fifth on Irish Front ($9.50), the seventh on Bertranda ($6.70), and the ninth on Admiral Lynch ($16.80).
He was scheduled to ride Deputy Flag in the 10th, but that horse was scratched at the gate by the track veterinarian.
Keeneland Association, the not-for-profit Central Kentucky racing and sales company, has split one of its senior management positions into two as the company seeks to implement a “strategic realignment of its core racing and sales operations,” the company announced on Thursday.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Last week, trainer John Terranova said he was seriously considering running New York-bred Funny Guy in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes on Aug. 1. He has since lowered his sights and now plans to run Funny Guy in Thursday’s $85,000 John Morrissey Handicap for New York-breds at seven furlongs.
:: DRF's Saratoga headquarters – Stakes schedule, previews, recaps, past performances, and more
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher brings a pair of potentially exciting 3-year-olds back to the races this weekend at Saratoga.
On Saturday, Pletcher will bring the undefeated Money Moves back off a near three-month layoff in a second-level allowance against older horses going 1 1/8 miles. On Sunday, Pletcher will send out the impressive debut winner Happy Saver in a first-level allowance, also at 1 1/8 miles.
Big Talker, who starts for the first time on Saturday in a maiden special weight for 2-year-olds at a mile on turf at Del Mar, is the latest foal out of the prolific mare Not Unusual to reach the races.
Big Talker is a full brother to Big Score, a graded stakes winner who has earned $643,542, and a half-brother to the graded stakes winner Mucho Unusual, who has earned $507,715. Two other full brothers, Big Buzz and the stakes-placed Unusually Big, have earned more than $100,000.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The last move proved to be the winning move in Thursday’s Grade 1, $100,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase Stakes at Saratoga, as Moscato was passed by Optimus Prime going into the far turn and then ran by that one in the shadow of the wire to win by three-quarters of a length.
It was 2 1/2 lengths back in third to Gibralfaro, who was followed by Redicean and Chief Justice. Pravalaguna, the pace-setting Surprising Soul, and Winner Massagot were all eased. Belisarius scratched.
A leading jockey at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., has been suspended and denied access to the grounds after a search of his vehicle turned up a device used to shock horses and at least one gun, according to a ruling from the Minnesota State Racing Commission.
