ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With the Ontario government extending the Declaration of Provincial Emergency and associated emergency measures due to the coronavirus global pandemic, Woodbine Entertainment announced Tuesday that it remains committed to stabling horses on its backstretch.
The Woodbine meet, which was scheduled to begin April 18, has been postponed with a start date yet to be determined.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Grade 1 winner Tom’s d’Etat remains on schedule to launch his season April 11 – but the venue has changed.
Trainer Al Stall Jr. said Tuesday that the $150,000 Oaklawn Mile is the new target race for Tom’s d’Etat. The horse had been pointing for the Grade 3 Ben Ali the same day at Keeneland.
However, the spring meet at Keeneland has since been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- The millionaire Come Dancing got her first real feel for the Oaklawn surface on Tuesday morning, when she worked toward a potential start in the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap here April 18.
She also is being considered for the Grade 3, $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap the same day at Oaklawn, according to her trainer, Carlos Martin.
Come Dancing, who is under the care of trainer D. Wayne Lukas at Oaklawn, breezed first after the break. She went five-eighths by herself in 1:00.60 on a sealed, muddy track.
Arlington won’t begin its 2020 race meeting on May 1, as had been scheduled, and the racing schedule this year remains totally unsettled in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Arlington has sent a notice to season boxholders that Arlington won’t race at all during the month of May, and a source reported that an Illinois state government official said Arlington would like, if possible, to race between early July and early September.
Trainer Patrick Biancone said Monday that his Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Sole Volante is still on target for the $750,000 Arkansas Derby on May 2 at Oaklawn Park. Sole Volante, winner of the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa earlier this winter, has had just one work since the Tampa Derby, an easy half-mile in 50 seconds on March 15 at Palm Meadows.
“Since we had no intention of running in the Florida Derby, I gave him a little break,” Biancone said. “He’s in good condition, but he’ll be back on the work tab this week with the Arkansas Derby the plan, if the race goes.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The 2019-20 Championship meeting, which ended Sunday, was certainly a bizarre one in many ways. But one bit of normalcy that did return during the winter was seeing Todd Pletcher’s name back atop the trainer standings at the end of the session, a position he had held for 15 consecutive years until relinquishing the title to Jorge Navarro last season.
Pletcher closed the winter meet with 48 victories, seven more than runner-up Mike Maker. Five of Pletcher’s wins came in stakes, including Saturday’s Grade 3 Appleton with Social Paranoia.
Come Dancing, the Grade 1 Ballerina winner, arrived at Oaklawn Park last Thursday and is being pointed to one of two spots for her seasonal debut, trainer Carlos Martin said Monday.
While the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at 1 1/16 miles is the main target, Martin said Come Dancing also will be nominated to the Grade 3, $350,000 Count Fleet Handicap at six furlongs. Both races are scheduled for April 18. The Count Fleet would mean taking on males, something Come Dancing has not yet done.
If Santa Anita continues to remain closed because of the coronavirus outbreak, Southern California-based horses will likely race in greater numbers at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California.
Friday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health ordered the closure of Santa Anita, deeming the racetrack a non-essential business. Only businesses deemed essential are allowed to conduct business during the virus outbreak. The decision was made less than an hour before the day’s first race.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Frank Fletcher has the fastest 3-year-old filly in the land based on Beyer Speed Figures and she’s coming to his home track of Oaklawn Park.
Frank’s Rockette earned a Beyer of 98 for her win in the $75,000 Any Limit on Feb. 22 at Gulfsetream Park. The number is at least four points higher than any other Beyer earned by a 3-year-old filly so far this year.
It figures to make her the favorite for the $100,000 Purple Martin Stakes here on Saturday.
The filly who won the 2019 Santa Anita Oaks and the likely favorite for this year’s race each worked a half-mile in 46.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday.
But with Santa Anita closed for racing indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a question whether Bellafina, who won last year’s Santa Anita Oaks, and Venetian Harbor, who won the Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes on Feb. 8, will have the chance to race soon. The Santa Anita Oaks is scheduled for Saturday.
