HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – General a Rod turned down the backstretch shortly after the renovation break Sunday, making his way to the five-furlong marker to begin his final major prep for Saturday’s Grade 1 Florida Derby. But as he reached the pole, the Fountain of Youth Stakes runner-up suddenly found himself with some unexpected company, as he was joined by a member of the Gamaliel Vazquez stable.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The eye-catching 6 1/4-length allowance victory by the New York-bred Effinex at Aqueduct on Sunday was special to Russell Cohen, the colt’s breeder, on several levels.
First, as a veterinarian for 27 years and a breeder for nearly as long, Cohen takes great pride in running horses in his stable without medication. Effinex, who is owned by the Tri-Bone Stables of Cohen’s mother, Bernice, does not run on Lasix, and Cohen said that except for one shot of Adequan, a medication that helps maintain cartilage, the horse has never been treated with anything.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – Susan Chu first became interested in horses through riding, which she still does, as does her 11-year-old son, Jerry. But a trip to the 2010 Kentucky Derby helped pique her interest in Thoroughbred racing, and she got the support of her husband, Charles, to get involved as more than a spectator.
Chu now has just a handful of runners, but what success she’s had. Last year, she had one of the most promising and precocious 3-year-olds in Super Ninety Nine, who won the Southwest Stakes and then was third in the Santa Anita Derby before he went to the sidelines.
Grade 3, $800,110 Sunland Derby, 1 1/8 miles, Sunland Park, March 23
(50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Whereas Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert won his fourth Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park earlier this month, his record in the rich Sunland Derby is not too shabby either.
Having won this Derby prep race in 2006 with Wanna Runner and last year with Govenor Charlie, Baffert sent two horses to Sunland this year - Chitu and Midnight Hawk.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – Chitu looks like a Quarter Horse, what with his big, blocky behind. And he’s bred like a sprinter, being by Henny Hughes. But when it comes to going two turns, what he shows on the outside is not reflected by what’s on the inside, for this is a horse whose determination has carried him quite far.
How far? Perhaps as far as the May 3 Kentucky Derby, for on Sunday at Sunland Park, Chitu earned 50 points – oh, and a $400,000 winner’s share – by holding off stablemate Midnight Hawk to take the Grade 3, $800,110 Sunland Derby before a track-record crowd 18,642.
Grade 3, $518,950 Spiral Stakes, 1 1/8 miles, Turfway Park, Polytrack, March 22
(50 Derby qualifying points to the winner, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth.)
After a hard-fought 1 1/8 miles, barely six inches separated the first three finishers in this Kentucky Derby prep race on Turfway Park’s synthetic Polytrack racing surface.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Big Tire is on the verge of the major leap from a maiden race win in early March to a Grade 1 stakes in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 5.
Trainer Mark Glatt said Sunday that Big Tire is deserving of a start in California’s top race for 3-year-olds after a breakthrough win in a one-mile maiden race on March 7, his sixth start.
The jump in class is worth a try, especially considering the distance, Glatt said.
FLORENCE, Ky. – We Miss Artie is scheduled to be flown back to south Florida on Tuesday and will not race again before the May 3 Kentucky Derby, for which the colt earned 50 eligibility points by virtue of his dramatic narrow victory Saturday in the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park.
Owner Ken Ramsey said Sunday morning from Florida that he will let trainer Todd Pletcher decide when to send We Miss Artie back to Kentucky from the Palm Meadows training center to make final preparations for the Derby.
FLORENCE, Ky. – Ken Ramsey wasn’t on hand to see We Miss Artie take a very narrow victory Saturday in the 43rd running of the Grade 3, $518,950 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park. But you could almost hear him cackling from Florida.
Picking up where they left off last year, Ramsey and his wife, Sarah, once again were the winners of a major stakes in Kentucky when We Miss Artie, ridden by John Velazquez, was up in the final stride to nip Harry’s Holiday in the 43rd running of the annual Turfway showcase. Coastline was just another head back in a thrilling three-horse photo.
