OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hay Field, a popular commodity at the claim box for the last nine months, will jump into stakes company in Saturday’s $100,000 Broadway Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct.
Starting last May, Hay Field has been claimed for $40,000 in six of her last seven starts, winning her last three straight. The only time Hay Field wasn’t claimed during that span came when she wasn’t eligible to be claimed in a starter-allowance race.
Red roses are top of mind this weekend. Valentine’s Day is Friday, and on Saturday, the most important races to date in 2020 will be held for aspirants to the Run for the Roses.
The Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds was split into two divisions that each will award 50 points to the victors, a number that virtually guarantees spots in the inevitable 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby, to be held this year on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
Del Mar plans to maintain a five-day racing week this summer despite a decline in racing days and the number of starters per race at the current Santa Anita meeting.
Racing secretary David Jerkens said on Wednesday that the track is finalizing an expanded financial incentive program to lure horses to Del Mar this summer.
A formal announcement is expected in March on the incentives, which may include a purse increase and an expansion of the ship-and-win program, which provides bonuses for horses brought to California from other circuits, Jerkens said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Storm the Court, the champion 2-year-old male of 2019, may remain in California for his second start of the year following a fourth-place finish in Sunday’s Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita.
In his first race since an upset win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile here last November, Storm the Court was beaten 2 1/4 lengths by the heavily favored Nadal in the $200,500 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs. Storm the Court was as close as third on the turn, and was beaten a neck for third by Fast Enough.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Everybody talks about key races as a handicapping tool. But what about key workouts?
Certainly the five furlong work in 1:01.04 on Jan. 30 at Palm Beach Downs matching the team of Last Judgment and Soldado will go down as a key workout after the pair returned just a week later to win feature races here on back-to-back days, capped off by Last Judgment’s impressive 2 3/4-length allowance win on Friday. The previous afternoon, Soldado was equally sharp defeating slightly lesser allowance opposition by 2 1/2 lengths. Both races were decided at six furlongs.
Trainer George Weaver said he will point for a seven-furlong restricted stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in late March with Up in Smoke, a 3-year-old filly who earned a 76 Beyer Speed Figure in winning her career debut last Saturday at Gulfstream.
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Lone Star Park near Dallas has announced a surge in purse money for its 44-date meet, which opens April 16.
The track projects purses will average $245,000 per program, up from $165,000 per day during the meet in 2019. The sharp increase includes $1.4 million in stakes purses, according to Bart Lang, Lone Star’s director of racing.
Minit to Stardom equaled her career-best Beyer Speed Figure – a 94 – with her powerful win in the $100,000 Louisiana Premier Night Matron on Saturday night at Delta Downs. The number matched the one she earned for her victory in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss last July at Saratoga.
Trainer Jose Camejo said Tuesday that plans are pending for Minit to Stardom, a daughter of Star Guitar who races for her breeder, Brittlyn Stables.
No Parole is poised to jump onto the Kentucky Derby trail after winning the first three starts of his career by a combined margin of 34 lengths. His latest score came Saturday night at Delta Downs, in the $100,000 Louisiana Premier Night Prince.
No Parole was making his two-turn debut and set a measured pace under jockey James Graham, responded when asked for run into the stretch, and was in hand late while getting the mile in 1:39.93. The score came off a pair of wins at six furlongs.
