Grade 1 stakes winners Combatant, Higher Power, and Ollie’s Candy may start in stakes at Oaklawn Park or Santa Anita in April and May, while the Grade 1 winner Gift Box has been sidelined until May, trainer John Sadler said Friday.
Gift Box was the morning-line favorite for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 7, but did not start because of concern over an ankle. Subsequent tests determined that Gift Box needed a rest.
“He’s going to get 45 days and go back into training,” Sadler said.
Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza is planning to ride the Dubai World Cup program at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 28 and then must quarantine himself for 14 days upon his return to the United States before he can ride again at Santa Anita.
Earlier this week, The Stronach Group, the parent company of Santa Anita, released a statement saying any jockey who rides internationally must undergo a 14-day self-quarantine because of the coronavirus outbreak.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Reeve McGaughey, the 30-year-old son of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, won his first race as a trainer Thursday at Oaklawn Park.
His father also celebrated his first training win at Oaklawn, back on March 29, 1978, according to records from Daily Racing Form.
“The first horse I ran in my name won at Oaklawn,” Shug McGaughey said when asked Friday. “I like Oaklawn – a lot of good memories.”
Reeve McGaughey won the card’s seventh race, a first-level allowance route, with Franknjymme ($7.20).
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The flight carrying locally based horses to Dubai for next Saturday’s World Cup program took off as scheduled from Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday afternoon. But one horse conspicuous by his absence on the flight manifest was Mr Freeze, the likely favorite for the $1.5 Godolphin Mile at Meydan on March 28.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – At least eight 3-year-olds are likely for the 69th Florida Derby, the annual Gulfstream Park showcase that will be run under far different circumstances than ever before – assuming the race goes as scheduled next Saturday.
Fonner Park will resume racing Monday, but it will be spectator-free ontrack, according to a press release issued by both the track and the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association on Thursday.
Six racing days will held during a March 23-Apri1 1 trial period. The track will race Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays with a first post of 3:30 p.m. Central.
Fonner suspended racing last week until further notice at the request of local mayor Roger Steele after Gov. Pete Ricketts requested attendance at sporting events be limited to less than 250 people.
Gulfstream Park will not race Friday to allow implementation of a series of protocols to reduce the chances of an outbreak of coronavirus at the Hallandale, Fla., racetrack, at Gulfstream Park West, which serves as a training center at this time of year, and the Palm Meadows training center.
In a statement, Gulfstream Park indicated it plans to resume racing Saturday.
The measures are similar to what is in place at other tracks owned by the track’s parent company, The Stronach Group – Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita in California and Laurel and Pimlico in Maryland.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Great Canadian Gaming announced Thursday it is allowing horses to continue to train at Hastings and Fraser Downs until March 31.
This is a reversal in position from a press release Wednesday, when Great Canadian said it was temporarily suspending any racing or training at the British Columbia tracks and at Flamboro, which is located in Ontario.
Charles Town Races in West Virginia has decided to resume racing but will ban spectators indefinitely while postponing the track’s richest race to an undetermined date, the racetrack said on Thursday.
Charles Town abruptly canceled its Wednesday card after the state’s governor, Jim Justice, ordered all bars, restaurants, and casinos to close due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, the track said on Thursday that it would resume racing on Friday, but that the track would “be closed entirely to the general public until further notice.”
Grade 3, $217,010 Jeff Ruby Steaks, 1 1/8 miles (all-weather), Turfway Park, March 14, 2020
(20 Derby qualifying points for a win, 8 for second, 4 for third, 2 for fourth)
Winner: Field Pass, by Lemon Drop Kid
Trainer: Mike Maker
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
