On Sunday, trainer Tom Amoss sent out Rise Up for a half-mile work in 49.80 seconds, the colt’s first breeze since he won the $1 million Delta Jackpot on Nov. 23 by six lengths.
Rise Up was freshened at a Florida farm for much of December before rejoining Amoss’s Fair Grounds stable. His connections are targeting the Grade 2 Risen Star on Feb. 22 for Rise Up’s first start at 3.
“His work went well, and things will get more intense as he goes forward now,” Amoss said.
Unknown Road gelded
The connections of Ria Antonia, the filly who was placed first through disqualification in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last fall, have changed plans and now intend to race her in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes rather than the Risen Star Stakes when she makes her 3-year-old debut Feb. 22.
Ron Paolucci, Ria Antonia’s principal owner, proclaimed just after the BC Juvenile Fillies his desire to point Ria Antonia to the 2014 Kentucky Derby, and the Risen Star for males has been her goal since Ria Antonia resumed steady training in December following a short rest.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Trainer Mark Casse’s 3-year-olds train at Palm Meadows, but Tampa Bay Downs has become one of the top proving grounds for his up-and-coming horses.
In recent years, Casse has sent runners like Prospective and Dynamic Sky to Tampa Bay Downs for the track’s 3-year-old stakes series. Dynamic Sky won the Pasco Stakes here last season, and Prospective won the 2012 Tampa Bay Derby.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Art Sherman is the trainer of California Chrome, the winner of Saturday’s $250,750 California Cup Derby for statebreds at Santa Anita. He is quickly becoming the colt’s biggest fan.
On Sunday, Sherman said he was delighted by the way California Chrome burst clear in early stretch to win the race over 1 1/16 miles by 5 1/2 lengths.
“The horse kind of impressed me,” Sherman said. “I was hoping he didn’t move too quickly.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he was doing “great” Sunday morning, and why shouldn’t he have been, in light of Cairo Prince’s outstanding performance Saturday in the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes?
Cairo Prince parlayed a perfect trip under jockey Luis Saez into a convincing 5 3/4-length victory over Conquest Titan in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull, earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest of his four-race career.
“He’s happy this morning, so I’m happy,” McLaughlin said Sunday. “He came out of the race bright-eyed and feeling great.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – California Chrome proved himself best of the statebreds on Saturday at Santa Anita with an overpowering victory in the $250,000 California Cup Derby, a performance that his trainer, Art Sherman, thought was in him, and which will earn California Chrome a shot to prove himself worth of getting to another Derby, the one in Kentucky on May 3.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Cairo Prince passed the first major test for 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby trail and did so with flying colors, drawing away to an impressive 5 3/4-length victory over Conquest Titan in Saturday’s Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Cairo Prince completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.16, missing the track standard set by the older River Seven five weeks earlier by just 0.43 seconds. His time also was 0.50 seconds faster than another leading Derby prospect, Top Billing, covered the same distance in winning an allowance race earlier on the card.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Top Billing gave every indication that he will be a major player on the road to the Kentucky Derby this season when he rallied from last to a very impressive 2 3/4-length victory over the well-regarded Surfing U S A in Saturday’s fourth race at Gulfstream Park.
The victory was the second in three starts for Top Billing, a son of Curlin who suffered his only setback when beaten a neck by another leading Derby prospect, Commissioner, going 1 1/8 miles in a similar first-level allowance here earlier this month.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Classic Giacnroll, the runner-up in the Jerome Stakes here Jan. 4, worked a half-mile in 50.86 seconds Saturday over the Aqueduct inner track in preparation for next Saturday’s $250,000 Withers Stakes. It was the third-fastest of 15 works at the distance.
