ARCADIA, Calif. – John Sadler, trainer and lifelong racing fan, may achieve Santa Anita racing history on Saturday.
If Gift Box wins the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, Sadler will become the first trainer to win the historic race in three consecutive years. Many trainers have won two consecutive runnings in this century, notably Bobby Frankel, Doug O’Neill and Bob Baffert. Baffert won the race three times in four years with Game On Dude in 2011 and 2013-14.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Hronis Racing and trainer John Sadler have some fun decisions to make with Edgeway, who put up the second-best Beyer Speed Figure for a 3-year-old filly this year when she won her debut last Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
“There’s all kind of spots for her,” Sadler said.
Edgeway earned a Beyer of 94 for her five-length win in a maiden special weight over six furlongs. The number ranks second to the 98 that Frank’s Rockette earned for her win in the $75,000 Any Limit on Feb. 22 at Gulfstream Park.
WHO’S HOT
Two newcomers – Charlatan and Major Fed – and a returnee – Three Technique – are the fresh names on this week’s Derby Watch top 20 list. Charlatan is 15-1 on the future line set by Marty McGee of Daily Racing Form for the Kentucky Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs. Both Major Fed and Three Technique are 50-1. Ete Indien is now the co-third choice on McGee’s line at 8-1, tumbling sharply from last week’s 50-1, following his runaway victory in the Fountain of Youth.
Two months out from the Kentucky Derby on May 2, no trainer holds a stronger hand with 3-year-olds than does Bob Baffert, who has four members of the Derby Watch top 20, two of whom are scheduled to run Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, with at least one more scheduled to run the following Saturday in the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel at Oaklawn.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Starship Jubilee, the standout 7-year-old mare with 16 wins from 34 starts, heads the lineup for the Grade 2, $200,000 Hillsborough, the richest of the four supporting events on Saturday’s Tampa Bay Derby card. Javier Castellano has the mount for the 1 1/16-mile turf race, also expected to get at least two starters from the Chad Brown barn.
The other secondary features are the Grade 3, $150,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on turf; the Grade 3, $100,000 Challenger, for older horses at a mile and a sixteenth; and the $75,000 Columbia for 3-year-olds on turf.
First, Kiaran McLaughlin was leaving New York. Now, he’s simply leaving training altogether.
McLaughlin will give up training horses and become the agent for jockey Luis Saez beginning with the Keeneland meet, which opens on April 2. McLaughlin will be taking over for Richard DePass, who is retiring. DePass worked as Saez’s agent for the last eight years.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Todd Pletcher has won the Tampa Bay Derby a record five times, but he doesn’t want to hear it.
“I’ve lost it more than that,” he deadpanned.
True, but c’mon. Pletcher will take a shot at extending his record to six when he sends out three starters here Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs in what was expected to be a capacity field of 12 3-year-olds for the 40th running of the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby. Eighty-five qualifying points (50-20-10-5) toward the May 2 Kentucky Derby are at stake.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine has announced purse increases for overnight and Ontario bonus programs effective for this year’s meet, which begins on April 18.
The overnight increases, as much as 7.7 percent on base purses, apply to maiden special weight races and select maiden optional-claiming races. Overnight purses will average approximately $450,000 per card for 2020.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Three horses trained by Joe Sharp have been disqualified from races in Kentucky last year after testing positive for levamisole, a de-worming agent that has already cost Sharp eight wins in Louisiana.
The three horses tested positive for levamisole after wins at Churchill Downs the last week of November, according to Kentucky Horse Racing Commission records. The owners of the horses agreed to forfeit the purses for the races after waiving their rights to have a split sample tested, according to the records.
Georgina Baxter, the Florida-based trainer who took over many of the horses trained by Ralph Ziadie after he was denied a license in 2018, is serving a 25-day suspension after three horses she trained tested positive for two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, according to documents provided by the state’s racing regulatory agency.
The suspension began on Feb. 24 and will run through March 19, according to the records. Baxter was also fined $7,500.
