Churchill Downs has delayed the opening of its stable area until April 14, the track announced on Tuesday, in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Churchill Downs had been scheduled to open its stable area last week, but the track put that date off indefinitely. The decision to delay the opening until April 14 comes as more and more states issue “stay at home” mandates, which would greatly complicate the movement of horses across state lines.
Thoroughbred racing in Chicago is on deep hold early this spring.
Arlington has indefinitely pushed back the date it will allow horses onto its backstretch, and making the scheduled May 1 meet opening is something like a 50-1 shot.
Moreover, the coronavirus outbreak and all its racing ramifications has put into limbo difficult negotiations between Arlington and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association over a contract that will govern the 2020 racing season – if or when it actually takes place.
Manny Franco is trying to take the next step in a career that appears to be on the right trajectory. A horse like Tiz the Law could help accelerate the process.
The 25-year-old Franco has been the leading rider on the New York Racing Association circuit for the last two years. In 2019, he won four of his eight career Grade 1 stakes, including his first Breeders’ Cup race with Sharing in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Grade 1-winning sprinters Whitmore and Mia Mischief were both in action last weekend at Oaklawn Park.
Whitmore worked Saturday morning in preparation for an intended start in the Grade 3, $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap here on April 18, according to trainer Ron Moquett.
Mia Mischief made her 5-year-old debut Friday, winning an allowance for fillies and mares at Oaklawn.
Jockeys who are scheduled to ride at Gulfstream Park this week – even if they’re riding only Saturday’s Florida Derby card – were required to be in Florida by Sunday night, according to Billy Badgett, the executive director of Florida racing operations for track owner The Stronach Group.
Badgett said this was agreed upon by The Stronach Group at the urging of The Jockeys’ Guild. However, Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of the Guild, said the original agreed-upon day to be in Florida was Tuesday.
Ashleyluvssugar, a six-time stakes winner on turf in California, has been retired after finishing sixth in the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Trainer Peter Eurton made the announcement on Twitter on Sunday.
Monday, Eurton said the 9-year-old Ashleyluvssugar will be trained for a second career at a retraining facility on the East Coast.
“We’re going to find him a new home and a new lifestyle, so to speak,” Eurton said. “Maybe he do small jumps or dressage. Who knows?
“It was time to retire him.”
Paco Lopez became only the third jockey in track history to post seven victories on a single program when turning the trick Saturday. Lopez joins Luis Saez, who did it twice in 2018, Tyler Gaffalione, who won seven races here on July 4, 2017, and Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey, the first to accomplish the feat on March 11, 1995. Included among Lopez’s seven wins was a wire-to-wire tally astride Hear My Prayer in the $75,000 Melody of Colors Stakes.
The 2-year-old colt Q B One arrived at trainer Richard Mandella’s stable at Santa Anita last Friday with a big reputation.
Q B One, by Uncle Mo, is the first foal out of four-time champion Beholder, a fixture in Mandella’s stable from 2012-16.
“He’s a big, gangly colt,” Mandella said. “He’s pretty good-sized.”
Owned by breeder B. Wayne Hughes, Q B One galloped at Santa Anita on Saturday and Sunday, Mandella said.
Cistron is likely to race on dirt in coming months, even though he recorded a sharp win in his first start since July in Saturday’s Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes for turf sprinters at Santa Anita.
Cistron’s presence in the $101,000 San Simeon Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs was a matter of convenience. The race appeared on the calendar at a time that fit the 6-year-old horse.
“We don’t think the grass is his best surface, or that was his best distance,” trainer John Sadler said Sunday. “I think he won because he was the best horse in the race. We accomplished what we wanted to.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After Zulu Alpha won the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida at Gulfstream Park to further entrench himself as a national leader among older turf horses, the 7-year-old gelding was supposed to make his next start in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby card.
