ARCADIA, Calif. – The big guns in the handicap division are skipping the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, but they will not be missed.
Without notables McKinzie, Mucho Gusto, Gift Box, or Higher Power, the 1 1/8-mile San Pasqual must stand on its own. No problem.
An evenly matched field of 10 entered the San Pasqual, an appealing race for bettors and one that will determine who takes on Gift Box in the Santa Anita Handicap on March 7.
Golden Gate Fields announced Wednesday afternoon that its Thursday racing card was canceled because of a leak in a gas line leading into the track.
The leak is not considered dangerous and is being repaired, but the track has no hot water, prompting the cancellation.
John Imbriale, the longtime backup announcer at the New York Racing Association, will now be the full-time race-caller at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga, NYRA announced Wednesday in a press release. Imbriale replaces Larry Collmus, who, according to sources, could not reach agreement on a new contract with NYRA.
Imbriale’s relationship with NYRA dates back to 1979 when he won a New York Daily News contest to call a race and work in the NYRA press office. Imbriale worked in the press office during the 1980s, while getting the occasional opportunity to call races.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Apprentice jockey Luis Cardenas has learned his lessons quickly. He won two races on Sunday’s card and now has five wins from just 48 mounts to begin his career.
With his fifth win, Cardenas went from riding with a 10-pound weight allowance to a seven-pound allowance. Once he reaches 35 victories, he will become a five-pound apprentice, or “bug boy” as they are known for the bug-like asterisk notation in the program.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A year ago, trainer Butch Reid entered the first weekend of February with a horse everybody was talking about for the Kentucky Derby. Maximus Mischief, an undefeated 2-year-old, finished third as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park and two months later would be retired with a soft-tissue injury.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockeys Assael Espinoza, Tony Locke, and Iggy Puglisi have received suspensions for recent riding infractions at Santa Anita.
Espinoza is suspended on Sunday and Feb. 6 for his ride on Fort Lodge in the eighth race on Jan. 20. Espinoza, 20, was cited for excessive use of the whip “when the horse obtained its maximum placing,” according to a ruling issued Sunday.
Fort Lodge finished seventh of eight in a maiden claimer, 12 1/2 lengths behind winner Derby Storm.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Brown Storm and Campaign had forgettable autumn campaigns last year, ending successful years with disappointing performances in graded stakes.
Brown Storm, a two-time stakes winner in Chile, was fifth and sixth at Santa Anita and Del Mar in his first two starts in this country. Campaign, a two-time stakes winner in 2019, was eased as the 3-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Marathon Stakes at 1 3/4 miles at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Higher Power returned to Santa Anita with his bloodwork “upside down,” trainer John Sadler said Wednesday, reasoning that stress from travel was a factor in his last-place finish as the favorite in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
“He came back sound, but pretty stressed from the trip,” Sadler said. “I’d say he didn’t travel very well. Some of his bloodwork when he got back is upside down. So we have to wait that out.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Tax, ninth of 10 in the Pegasus World Cup last Saturday, won’t race again for at least a couple of months, trainer Danny Gargan said.
“We’re not going overseas for one of the big-money races, that’s for sure,” Gargan said. “He won’t run again until something like the Oaklawn Handicap or Ben Ali, one of those type races.”
Tax was the 4-1 third choice in the Pegasus, a 1 1/8-mile race in which the 4-year-old gelding “didn’t get away very well and then got jostled around pretty good,” Gargan said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Maxfield, one of the leading 2-year-olds of 2019, returned recently to the Brendan Walsh barn at the Palm Meadows training center after undergoing rehabilitation at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla. Maxfield had a small ankle chip removed shortly after being scratched from the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
“He’s back galloping at Palm Meadows and we’ll monitor him this week as to when he can start back working,” Walsh said Wednesday from New Orleans. “But he’s done great physically and is moving great, too.”
