ARCADIA, Calif. – Here comes the Hawk, the mighty Midnight Hawk.
Making only his second start, his first in a stakes race and his first around two turns, Midnight Hawk passed his test in the Grade 3, $98,000 Sham Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, establishing himself - and his celebrity connections - as one of the bright lights on the road to the May 3 Kentucky Derby.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer John Sadler was hoping to take the next step on the Kentucky Derby trail Saturday afternoon with Kristo in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, but early Saturday morning at Santa Anita, he was polishing his other top 3-year-old prospects, Candy Boy and Kobe’s Back, who both worked in advance of scheduled stakes starts next month.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The field for the Grade 3 Holy Bull on Jan. 25, the first major test for Kentucky Derby hopefuls here this winter, continues to take shape, with one of the starters likely to be Conquest Titan, a son of Birdstone who closed his 2-year-old campaign with an eye-catching last-to-first allowance win at Churchill Downs.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Top Fortitude ran like an older horse when he won his 2-year-old debut in a maiden race for sprinters at Hollywood Park in November.
Instead of zooming to the lead, like many first-time winners, Top Fortitude closed from fourth in a field of nine with a wide rally to win by 2 3/4 lengths. The victory has led to a start in Saturday’s $100,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds over a mile at Santa Anita.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas came into the Oaklawn Park meet a year ago with a pair of promising 3-year-olds in Oxbow and Will Take Charge. When the new season opens on Friday, he’ll be coming off one of the most significant years of his career.
Grade 2, $200,000 Jerome; one mile and 70 yards; Aqueduct; Jan. 4
(10 Kentucky Derby eligibility points to the winner, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
In icy cold weather on Aqueduct’s winterized inner track, Noble Moon lived up to his 4-5 odds to score a gritty two-length victory in 1:45.08 over Classic Giacnroll in the one mile and 70-yard Jerome Stakes, the first formally recognized Kentucky Derby prep race of 2014.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Ria Antonia, winner via disqualification of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in November, took the first significant step toward her 3-year-old debut by breezing three furlongs Sunday morning in 36.62 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
It was her first timed workout since the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup, a race in which she finished second by a nose but was elevated to first by the stewards, who felt she was interfered with in deep stretch by She’s a Tiger.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Leah Gyarmati plans to run Noble Moon twice more before hopefully making it to the Kentucky Derby on May 3. Though one of those starts will be the Grade 1 Wood Memorial here at Aqueduct on April 5, the other race - the next one - has not yet been determined.
Her initial thought immediately following Noble Moon’s two-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Jerome was to wait for the Grade 3, $500,000 Gotham Stakes on March 1. However, Gyarmati said Sunday she may elect to run back in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes on Feb. 1 instead.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Noble Moon turned into the Aqueduct stretch with a narrow lead over Classic Giacnroll in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Jerome and it was fair to wonder whether the 4-5 favorite would be impacted by having not raced in 62 days.
“That’s what those mile works are for,” said Leah Gyarmati, before adding with a smile “No, I wasn’t worried for a second.”
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – For two years, Juan Carlos Guerrero was front and center, winning races in bushels at Parx Racing, where he was the leading trainer in 2011 after missing that distinction by one victory in 2010.
But things have changed drastically for Guerrero, who after being banned for 10 years from Parx now takes on a behind-the-scenes role in a stable that has dropped out of the limelight.
