ELMONT, N.Y. – Over his last 20 races, spanning two years, Mr. Buff has only been noncompetitive in the three graded stakes races in which he’s run.
Saturday, the 6-year-old New York-bred millionaire will try again to make the grade when he runs in the Grade 2, $200,000 Suburban Stakes.
Trainer John Kimmel said that while he is running Mr. Buff in the Suburban because he has “nowhere else to go,” he doesn’t see why the horse shouldn’t be competitive in the 1 1/4-mile spot.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Bob Baffert tries not to think about last year’s Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap, where McKinzie encountered traffic trouble in the stretch and had to settle for second to Mitole.
“Last year, it was worth $1.2 million, so that’s the part that stung the worst,” Baffert said. “But we don’t worry about that, that’s old news. That’s over with.”
Uncle Chuck, a member of the Derby Watch top 20, is heading straight into stakes competition following a maiden win last month at Santa Anita, as he will take on stablemate Thousand Words as part of a small field in the Grade 3, $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday.
Jolie Olimpica, winner of two sprint stakes on turf at Santa Anita earlier this year, worked seven furlongs in 1:25.60 on Wednesday at Del Mar in preparation for a start in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes on July 11 at Keeneland.
Jolie Olimpica was the most prominent of a small number of horses given workouts Wednesday at Del Mar. The track is preparing for the start of it summer meeting on July 10.
Trained by Richard Mandella for Rick Porter, Jolie Olimpica won the Grade 2 Monrovia Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf May 25.
Zuzanna, the former $8,000 claimer who won the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap last November at Del Mar, has been retired, co-owner Kurt Hoover said earlier this week.
A 6-year-old mare, Zuzanna was sixth in an allowance race with an $80,000 claiming option on June 24 at Indiana Grand in her 2020 debut. She had a bout with colic last weekend that led to her retirement, according to Hoover, well known as a TVG commentator.
Storm the Court, the champion 2-year-old male of 2019 who was third in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby last Saturday, faces an uncertain summer campaign with options on turf or the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs, trainer Peter Eurton said Wednesday.
Storm the Court finished third as the 2-1 favorite in the Ohio Derby, 2 3/4 lengths behind Dean Martini. Storm the Court is winless in four starts this year since his upset win at 45-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita last November.
There is nothing like a stakes win to boost the profile of a new rider.
Juan Hernandez won the $101,500 Soi Phet Stakes on Galilean last Saturday at Los Alamitos in his first full week of riding in Southern California in recent years. Through Sunday, Hernandez had four wins at Los Alamitos, holding a one-race lead in the jockey standings. The brief season ends Sunday.
“This is a really good start for me,” Hernandez said last weekend. “People are helping me.”
The six-horse field for Saturday’s co-featured Carry Back Stakes was reduced to five early Wednesday afternoon when trainer Kelsey Danner and her owners decided to scratch Prince James from the seven furlong dash for 3-year-olds.
The Carry Back was to have served as the 2020 debut for Prince James, who has been idle since finishing fifth after pressing the early pace in the Grade 2 Remsen seven months earlier.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pink Lloyd’s remarkable achievement of winning the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier for the fourth consecutive year was one for the books, but it didn’t come without controversy.
When it had just four entries, the six-furlong stakes was moved from its scheduled date of Saturday, June 20, to the following Thursday by Woodbine management in order to showcase the three-time Canadian champion sprinter on a new horse racing show on The Sports Network in Canada.
Creed, an impressive 7 3/4-length maiden winner in the mud here June 11, meets winners for the first time in a first-level allowance race for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on Thursday’s card.
Creed a son of Honor Code owned by Edward and Lynne Hudson and trained by Shug McGaughey, took advantage of a four-ply speed duel, made a wide rally around the turn, and cruised to an easy victory over a sealed, muddy surface.
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