Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Fair Grounds; Feb. 25, 2017
(50 Derby qualifying points for a win, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Winner: Girvin, by Tale of Ekati
Trainer: Joe Sharp
Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.
Owner: Brad Grady
Beyer Speed Figure: 93
Gormley and Mastery, both Grade 1 winners and two of the top 3-year-olds in California, both worked six furlongs on Monday at Santa Anita, and they could face one another in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes on March 11.
Gormley, with regular rider Victor Espinoza up, was timed in 1:11, the fastest time of 14 at the distance. Mastery was timed in 1:15.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Action Everyday has won both of his starts, trainer Todd Pletcher believes the horse has more to give. So, when Pletcher runs Action Everyday in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, he plans to equip the son of The Factor with blinkers for the first time.
Pletcher noted that when Action Everyday won a first-level allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 27, he was a bit reluctant to load, and when he made the lead at the top of the stretch, he thought the race was completed.
McCraken had his first workout since his latest victory when breezing a half-mile in company in 48.80 seconds Monday at his winter base at the Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach, Fla.
With regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. in from New Orleans, McCraken worked alongside his Ian Wilkes-trained stablemate Fifth Title, a 4-year-old maiden.
“I got him galloping out in 1:12 flat, then another eighth in 13 and 1,” said Wilkes. “I’m very pleased with the horse. All’s good.”
OLDSMAR, Fla. – It was anything but a lazy Sunday for No Dozing, who turned in a bullet workout at Tampa Bay Downs to remain under consideration for the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby here on March 11. No Dozing breezed half a mile in 47.80 seconds, the fastest of 62 works at the distance here that morning, as he tries to bounce back from a disappointing 3-year-old debut.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A field of up to 10 3-year-olds is taking shape for the second of three major Kentucky Derby preps to be run this winter at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth on Saturday.
Conquest Mo Money remained undefeated in three career starts Sunday, when he captured the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby by two lengths over Irap. It was another two lengths back in third to Oh So Regal.
The Mine That Bird Derby served as the local prep for next month’s Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby. The race was one of three stakes on the card. Mopotism became a stakes winner in the $75,000 Island Fashion and Forest Mouse won the 12th stakes race of his career in the $75,000 Curribot Handicap.
Untrapped, the Risen Star runner-up, is headed to Oaklawn Park for the Rebel Stakes on March 18, but the third- and fourth-place Risen Star finishers, Local Hero and Guest Suite, are likely runners in the Louisiana Derby, trainers Steve Asmussen and Neil Howard said Sunday.
Mo Town, who was fifth as the favorite in the Risen Star, flies back to trainer Tony Dutrow's base at Payson Park on Tuesday.
NEW ORLEANS -- Girvin came out of the Risen Star Stakes as well as he went into it, according to trainer Joe Sharp. Making just his third start and racing around two turns on dirt for the first time, Girvin won the Risen Star on Saturday at Fair Grounds by two lengths over Untrapped. If all goes well with the colt, Girvin will make his next start April 1 in the $1 million Louisiana Derby,
The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed Sunday as a lukewarm choice in Pool 3 of the 2017 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, while Unique Bella was a heavy favorite in the lone futures pool for the 2017 Kentucky Oaks.
