Sun, 12/01/2019 - 17:31

Plenty of options await Zuzanna in Florida

Benoit Photo
Zuzanna will winter with trainer Bob Hess Jr.'s string in South Florida.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Zuzanna, the upset winner of the Red Carpet Handicap on Saturday at Del Mar, was scheduled to be sent to Florida this week, where, owing to her development this year, she would be eligible for anything from starter-allowance races to graded stakes.

Sun, 12/01/2019 - 16:04

Four-day weeks will kick off Santa Anita winter-spring meet

Barbara D. Livingston
Santa Anita opens its winter-spring meet on Dec. 26.

Santa Anita is planning two four-day racing weeks during the holiday period for the start of its winter-spring meeting.

Racing secretary Steve Lym said the track will run from Dec. 26-29, a Thursday through Sunday for opening week. There will be racing on Wednesday, Jan. 1, but no racing on Thursday, Jan. 2 before racing resumes for a three-day weekend from Jan. 3-5.

In the first full week of January, there will be a three-day racing week from Jan. 10-12, a Friday through Sunday. For most of the meeting through June 21, the track is planning to race four days a week.

Sun, 12/01/2019 - 16:00

Alms to get a break before 3-year-old campaign

Benoit Photo
Alms is likely to target New York's rich turf series for 3-year-old fillies in 2020.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Alms will finish her 2-year-old season undefeated.

Saturday, the promising filly won her first start at a mile, and second stakes, in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes on turf. The victory left trainer Mike Stidham planning a vacation for Alms in coming months. The long-range goals are the lucrative stakes for 3-year-old fillies in New York through the summer.

“We’re in talks for a slight freshening and get ready for the spring and summer next year,” Stidham said on Sunday from his winter base in New Orleans.

Sun, 12/01/2019 - 15:45

Mo Forza, Next Shares targeting Santa Anita stakes

Benoit Photo
Mo Forza will be considered for a start in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile on opening day at Santa Anita.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Mo Forza and Next Shares are likely to start in Grade 2 stakes in the opening days of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting after winning major stakes at Del Mar on Saturday.

Mo Forza won his third consecutive start, and first Grade 1, in the $302,457 Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf. He will be considered for the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile, a $200,000 turf race on Dec. 26, the opening day of the track’s meeting.

“That makes sense,” trainer Peter Miller said. “We’ll enjoy this for a few days.”

Sun, 12/01/2019 - 14:59

Aqueduct cancels remainder of Sunday card

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The final five races of Sunday’s Aqueduct card were canceled when the jockeys refused to ride, citing icy conditions.

There was a combination of rain and wind and the temperatures were in the low 30s during the running of the first four races.

Kendrick Carmouche, who won the first race, said the jockeys were concerned about the “ice getting worse and worse throughout the day.

Sun, 12/01/2019 - 14:25

Gaming Commission to hold hearing on Rice's trainer's license

Barbara D. Livingston
Linda Rice comes from a family of horse people who descend from her father, Clyde, who died on Monday.

The New York State Gaming Commission will conduct a hearing on Dec. 18 to determine whether to suspend or revoke the license of trainer Linda Rice due to actions alleged to be “detrimental to the best interests of racing generally and corrupt and improper acts and practices in relation to racing,” according to a notice posted on the Commission website.

Sun, 12/01/2019 - 11:03

Performer will be freshened, Tax may try Pegasus

Chelsea Durand/NYRA
Performer earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 102 for his victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Discovery.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Performer and Tax, the first two finishers from Saturday’s Grade 3 Discovery Stakes at Aqueduct, will both soon be headed to South Florida, but only one is likely to target the $9 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25.

Performer, who beat Tax by 1 1/4 lengths for his fourth straight victory, will be given a break by trainer Shug McGaughey and point to a 4-year-old campaign that could begin in the Grade 1 Carter, a seven-furlong race typically run at Aqueduct in early April.

Fri, 11/29/2019 - 15:20

Motion Emotion just latest road winner for Baltas

Coady Photography
Motion Emotion is a potential candidate for the Grade 1 La Brea off her win Wednesday in the Zia Park Oaks.

Southern California-based trainer Richard Baltas has had a run of stakes success on the road this year, with his latest such winner Motion Emotion in the $250,000 Zia Park Oaks on Wednesday.

His other out-of-state stakes victories in 2019 have come at Belmont Park, Churchill Downs, Keeneland, and Kentucky Downs.

Motion Emotion was due to arrive back home from New Mexico on Friday. Baltas said she will be nominated to the Grade 1, $300,000 La Brea, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies on Dec. 26. The race is at her base of Santa Anita.

Fri, 11/29/2019 - 15:16

Big Beyer for Bobby's Wicked One in Thanksgiving Classic

Hodges Photography/Amanda Hodges Weir
Bobby's Wicked One led throughout to win Thursday's Thanksgiving Classic at Fair Grounds.

Bobby’s Wicked One beat only two foes winning the $100,000 Thanksgiving Classic on Thursday, but he ran a sharp six furlongs in 1:08.68, a raw time that produced a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, equaling Bobby’s Wicked One’s career best.

Trainer Al Stall said Friday that Bobby’s Wicked One had come out of that performance, his second start following an extended layoff, in good shape.

“That’s a tough little horse,” Stall said.

Bobby’s Wicked One tentatively is being pointed to the Duncan Kenner Stakes on Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds.

Fri, 11/29/2019 - 15:16

Mr Jess Jenkins returns in Southwest Juvenile Invitational Championship

Mr Jess Jenkins will make his first start since winning the $3 million All American Futurity on Labor Day in Sunday’s $150,000 Southwest Juvenile Invitational Championship at Zia Park. The race is one of five stakes for Quarter Horses on the program, and those races are worth a collective $595,000.

Mr Jess Jenkins was a neck winner of the All American at Ruidoso Downs. The race is the richest offering for Quarter Horses, and the magnitude of the win was not lost on trainer Marcos Carrizales, a 23-year-old from a racing family.