HALLANDALE BEACH , Fla. – Restless Rider will make her first start since a disappointing run in the Kentucky Oaks when she is part of a competitive field Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Royal Delta at Gulfstream. Entries for the 1 1/16-mile race will be drawn Wednesday.
Trainer Kenny McPeek said he would like to run Restless Rider in the Apple Blossom on April 18 at Oaklawn, “with maybe a race in between”
“This should be a good first race to start with,” he said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Between Gulfstream Park and Aqueduct, Danny Gargan has won at a 40 percent clip over the last two months. And the Kentucky-born trainer has no intent of slowing down.
“When you’ve got good owners and good horses like I do right now, you ought to win at a high percentage,” Gargan said. “I’m very fortunate to have both.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – The top California-bred sprinter Fashionably Fast continued his strong training in preparation for a bid at a two-turn race with a sharp drill Sunday morning at Santa Anita, when he went five furlongs in 1:01 on the training track under his regular rider, Tiago Pereira.
Winner of five straight, most recently the Cal Cup Sprint on Jan. 18, Fashionably Fast is scheduled to make his next start in the Tiznow Stakes on March 1. It’s against fellow Cal-breds, but is at one mile.
Flavien Prat will ride Kentucky Derby prospect Dennis’ Moment when he makes his 3-year-old debut in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 29, trainer Dale Romans said Monday.
:: Fountain of Youth Day 2020: News, analysis, picks, past performances, and more
OLDSMAR, Fla. - Raul Mena has started a suspension of 15 calendar days in the wake of a recent spill in which fellow jockey Jose Batista suffered a neck fracture.
Mena was aboard Enduring Honor when his mount shifted into the path of Malio’s, ridden by Batista, shortly after the start of the sixth race here Feb. 2 at a mile and 40 yards. Batista was badly dazed and unable to get to his feet, leading the race to be declared a no-contest.
Mena has 13 wins at this meet. He will be permitted to return to action Feb. 22.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - The standout sprinter Imperial Hint is scheduled to breeze later this week at Tampa to help determine whether he will be sent to Saudi Arabia for the $1.5 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint on Feb. 29.
Trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. said that if Imperial Hint is to run in the Saudi race, he will be flown there Feb. 18. Either way, Carvajal is intent on making the $2 million Golden Shaheen at Meydan in Dubai on March 28.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Led by the Grade 1 winner Hard Not to Love, Saturday’s Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita will have a small field.
As of Sunday, the list of candidates included Mother Mother and Lady Ninja, who were first and second in the Kalookan Queen Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on Jan. 12. The $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes is run at seven furlongs.
Road Rager, third in an optional claimer on Jan. 31, and Zusha, third in the Grade 3 La Canada Stakes on Jan. 11, may start, their trainers said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – When River Boyne’s losing streak reached eight races after a third in the Cotton Fitzsimmons Handicap at Turf Paradise last month, a measure of doubt understandably crept into co-owner Tim Cohen’s mind.
A five-time winner in stakes for 3-year-olds in 2018, River Boyne’s best results in a seven-race campaign in 2019 were two second-place finishes – one coming in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile last June. It was a tough season of racing against older horses for River Boyne.
“Maybe he doesn’t have it anymore,” Cohen recalled thinking.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Billy Batts has made his mark on turf in his young career, finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last November and winning the Baffle Stakes at Santa Anita on Friday in his 3-year-old debut.
For his next start, Billy Batts will race on dirt on the other side of the world. Trainer Peter Miller confirmed on Sunday that Billy Batts will be sent to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the $800,000 Saudi Derby at a mile on Feb. 29.
“He’s trained well on it,” Miller said. “We’ve got 800,000 reasons to try it.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Chris Merz, the racing secretary at Laurel and Pimlico since the summer of 2018, is rejoining the Santa Anita racing office as director of racing.
Merz, who worked at Santa Anita as stakes coordinator as recently as the spring of 2018, will begin Saturday and will assist racing secretary Steve Lym.
Sunday, Lym said Merz’s primary responsibility will be to compile entries on a daily basis and assist him with the writing of condition books that detail proposed races several weeks in advance.
