Runners of all ages have kept trainer Peter Miller occupied in the last week.
Last Thursday, the 8-year-old Roy H, the champion sprinter of 2017 and 2018, worked three furlongs in 39.40 seconds at San Luis Rey Downs for a potential comeback after a lengthy layoff caused by foot ailments.
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Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has ridden McKinzie in 14 of his 16 races and for all eight of his wins. The latest win occurred in Sunday’s Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes, the first time Smith was aboard McKinzie since September.
From Smith’s perspective, the tally should be nine victories.
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Grade 1 winner Ollie’s Candy heads an expected field of six in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park. The Ogden Phipps is for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles.
Ollie’s Candy, trained by John Sadler, won the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch last July at Del Mar. Since then, she is 0 for 4, most recently running second to Ce Ce in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn.
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ELMONT, N.Y. – The defections of undefeated Grade 1 winners Charlatan and Maxfield from the June 20 Belmont Stakes had little impact on trainer Barclay Tagg, trainer of two-time Grade 1 winner and now incontrovertible Belmont Stakes favorite Tiz the Law.
Saturday’s Gulfstream Park card featured Up in Smoke’s last-to-first two-length victory over even-money favorite Boerne in the Game Face over a track that favored her come-from-behind style of running throughout the day. The win was the fourth in five career starts for Up in Smoke, who is perfect around one turn, with her lone defeat having come in the 1 1/16-mile Hollywood Wildcat.
Tyler Gaffalione, the leading jockey at the spring meet through 15 of 26 cards, said he will continue riding by filing an appeal of a three-day suspension (June 13, 14, 18) handed him by the Churchill stewards. The penalty stems from Gaffalione’s mount, Teenage Kicks, being disqualified from first to third in the sixth race Friday.
It’s very difficult to feel bad for Steve Asmussen, even after the Hall of Fame trainer went 1 for 14 last week to remain one victory shy of 737 Churchill wins, a number that will tie him with Dale Romans as the all-time leading trainer in track history.
“It’s been a little bit frustrating not getting there yet,” Asmussen said.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Brendan Walsh said Monday that Maxfield will skip the Belmont Stakes to wait instead for the Blue Grass Stakes on July 11 at Keeneland, the colt’s home base.
Maxfield, a Godolphin homebred undefeated in three starts, figured no worse than second choice behind Tiz the Law in the June 20 Belmont and is widely considered one of the three favorites for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, along with Tiz the Law and Honor A. P. His defection figures to leave Tiz the Law a heavy Belmont favorite.
Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., will offer a pick five with a 10 percent takeout rate when its meet opens Wednesday, the track announced last week.
The 10 percent takeout rate will be the lowest-raked pick five in the country. The minimum wager will be 50 cents. Of late, several tracks have announced low-takeout pick five bets in an effort to draw attention to their cards.
At least one leading act is touring the country this year.
Swiss Skydiver, who won graded stakes in Florida and Arkansas earlier this spring, conquered California’s 3-year-old filly division with an easy win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks.
Ridden by Mike Smith, Swiss Skydiver led throughout the $196,000 Oaks to win by four lengths over Speech, finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.20. Swiss Skydiver scooted to an opening quarter-mile in 22.92 seconds, which gave trainer Ken McPeek a brief concern. She maintained her advantage and was not threatened by three rivals.
