OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After a successful two-year stint training in Saudi Arabia, Jimmy Jerkens has returned to New York. Jerkens, 66, is weighing his options about his future in the sport.
Jerkens trained 12 individual Grade 1 winners, including two Breeders’ Cup winners, in a 26-year career before taking a job in Saudi Arabia to train for Faisal bin Khalid Al Saud. Jerkens said while he wants to be around horses, he is not interested in starting over from scratch in the U.S. with his own stable.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The three leading jockeys at the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting – Juan Hernandez, Flavien Prat, and Umberto Rispoli – will ride at Fair Grounds or Turfway Park on Saturday, the first time the trio have all been away from California since Jan. 25.
Through Monday, Hernandez led all riders with 43 wins, closely followed by Prat with 41. Rispoli is third with 32 wins.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Boss Sully is under consideration for the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes for turf sprinters at Keeneland on April 5 after a commanding win in his 2025 debut in an allowance race at Santa Anita last Saturday.
Ridden by Armando Ayuso, Boss Sully ($13.20) was always near the front and drew away to win the six-furlong race on turf by 2 1/2 lengths. He was timed in 1:08.37, and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 92.
Katonah, winner of the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita in January, but only sixth of eight in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 1, has been invited to the $12 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 5.
Katonah, who races for Ron Arakelian 3d’s R3 Racing, was offered earlier this week in the Fasig-Tipton March digital sale, but was not sold.
“It looks like the current owner will keep him,” trainer Doug O’Neill said on Thursday.
The Chosen Vron, a two-time Grade 1 winner and California’s Horse of the Year in 2023 and 2024, has been retired, according to co-owner and trainer Eric Kruljac.
A 7-year-old gelding, The Chosen Vron won 19 of 24 starts and earned $1,709,678 in a career that spanned five seasons from late 2020 to last August.
Jockey Mario Gutierrez, twice a Kentucky Derby winner, is relocating from California to Kentucky this spring in advance of the upcoming April meeting at Keeneland.
Gutierrez, who has not ridden since Feb. 23 at Oaklawn Park, is booked on two mounts at Santa Anita on Friday, but he recently moved his wife and 8-year-old boy into a home in Louisville, Ky. The Gutierrez family lost their California home during the devastating wildfires that struck the Los Angeles area in January.
Jockeys Dalton Brown, Sofia Vives, and Eric Cancel were each sanctioned by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for whip violations.
Brown, who was cited for hitting a horse 12 times – six more times than permitted – was fined $1,000 and given a three-day suspension that began last Saturday and concludes Friday. Some of those whip strikes were slaps on the shoulder while Brown did not maintain his hands on the reins at neck level, according to NYRA steward Victor Escobar.
Phileas Fogg, the eight-length winner of the Queens County on Dec. 29, worked five furlongs in 1:02.20 on Wednesday morning over the Belmont Park training track as he prepares for a start in the $150,000 Excelsior Stakes on April 5.
Claimed by Gus Rodriguez for $62,500 on July 13, Phileas Fogg has won 3 of 4 starts for Rodriguez and Jupiter Stable. He had a three-race winning streak snapped in a no-condition allowance race Jan. 25, when he was beaten a neck by Curbstone.
Jockeys Francisco Martinez and Jorge Vargas Jr. are working toward returns to the saddle after sustaining injuries in a spill at Parx Racing last month. Both riders are receiving treatment and hope to return to racing in May.
Martinez and Vargas were unseated in the third race on Feb. 5 at Parx. Vargas was riding 5-year-old mare Sudoku Terry when the horse fell on the first turn, causing a spill that took down Martinez and 4-year-old filly Alma Brilha.
Latta, a 4-year-old colt based in Pennsylvania, has been surprising trainer Jacinto Solis in all the right ways. After an eye-popping 10 1/4-length victory in an allowance at Parx Racing on March 12, Solis must now figure out the next step for a colt that has suddenly become one of the hottest runners in the state.
