Sun, 01/29/2012 - 16:36

Gulfstream: El Padrino looks like good Kentucky Derby prospect winning two-turn allowance

Barbara D. Livingston
El Padrino joins trainer Todd Pletcher's list of Triple Crown candidates by winning a two-turn allowance Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -   Add another horse, El Padrino, to trainer Todd Pletcher’s steadily growing list of Kentucky Derby prospects.

El Padrino may have actually moved to the top of that list following his extremely impressive two-length victory over Take Charge Indy on a good and sealed racetrack Sunday at Gulfstream Park. The entry-level allowance race was the first start for El Padrino since his third- place finish in the Grade 2 Remsen two months earlier.

Sat, 01/28/2012 - 14:23

Santa Anita: Chips All In no morning glory

ARCADIA, Calif. – It’s a good thing the 3-year-old colt Chips All In is a better racehorse than he is work horse.

The two-time stakes winner worked seven furlongs in 1:29 at Santa Anita on Saturday, a slow time that would send some trainers into a panic. Not Jeff Mullins, who timed the colt in 1:30.80. Mullins considers Chips All In to be a candidate for Saturday’s $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes over 1 1/16 miles, and was not concerned about the slow workout time.

Fri, 01/27/2012 - 16:15

Oaklawn Park: Pee H Dee possible for Southwest

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Pee H Dee is one of two promising 3-year-olds the owner-trainer team of Jim McIngvale and trainer Chris Richard have in the hopper for upcoming stakes at Oaklawn Park. Pee H Dee has put himself under consideration for next month’s Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest Stakes following a recent allowance win. Ring It Up, meanwhile, is a horse that could develop into a candidate for the Grade 2, $500,000 Rebel in March.

Fri, 01/27/2012 - 15:41

Santa Anita: Baffert points Liaison, Sky Kingdom to Robert Lewis Stakes

Benoit & Associates
Liaison, winner of the CashCall Futurity, is headed to the Robert Lewis.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The depth of trainer Bob Baffert’s 3-year-old division will lead to multiple starters for the Hall of Famer in the $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes next Saturday at Santa Anita.

Baffert will run Liaison, winner of the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park on Dec. 17, and Sky Kingdom, who was fourth in the CashCall and winner of an allowance race here Jan. 12.

Fri, 01/27/2012 - 15:32

Gulfstream: Reveron will stick to Sam Davis plan

Bob Coglianese
Reveron, with Fernando Jara up, wins the Gulfstream Park Derby.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Augustin Bezara said immediately after Reveron upset the Gulfstream Park Derby here on New Years’ Day that the Grade 3 Holy Bull was not in his plans. And the Venezuelan-born horseman was true to his word.

Reveron is not among the six 3-year-olds entered in Sunday’s one-mile Holy Bull. Instead, Bezara is planning to ship Reveron, a son of Songandaprayer, to Tampa Bay Downs for next Saturday’s Grade 3 Sam F. Davis.

Fri, 01/27/2012 - 14:59

Gulfstream Park: Two-turn allowance an alternative to Holy Bull

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It isn’t a stakes race, but it could be. When Sunday’s seventh race at Gulfstream Park is over, one or more of the nine 3-year-olds entered will be stakes bound in a bid to get on the Triple Crown trail.

A trio of stakes-placed 3-year-olds – Casual Trick, Take Charge Indy, and El Padrino – will meet in a $53,000 first-level allowance race at 1 1/16 miles on Sunday’s card at Gulfstream, which is highlighted by the Grade 3, $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes, also for 3-year-olds.

Fri, 01/27/2012 - 13:43

Gulfstream Park: Hansen starts path to Kentucky Derby in Holy Bull Stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
Hansen will make his first start since the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Sunday in the Holy Bull. He has five works for the mile race.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Hansen has kept a pretty low profile throughout his brief but successful racing career, doing the majority of his training in the relative anonymity of the Trackside Training Center in Kentucky prior to his victory in the Breeders’ Cup and under the cloak of darkness since arriving in south Florida last month.

Fri, 01/27/2012 - 09:04

Countdown to the Crown: Week 4 - Jan. 27, 2012

Editor’s Note: Countdown to the Crown returns for a seventh season online as one of the most comprehensive handicapper’s scouting reports of the 3-year-old scene. Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 6 through the Belmont Stakes, Countdown keeps you apprised of the rising stars of the 3-year-old class from the maiden ranks through the Grade 1 stakes. You can access daily updates and interactive features at Countdowntothecrown.com as well.

Thu, 01/26/2012 - 16:51

Ever So Lucky arrives at Gulfstream Park

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography
Ever So Lucky has arrived at Gulfstream Park and is pointing to the Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Ever So Lucky, who ran two bang-up races in a span of 15 days last November at Churchill Downs, arrived at Gulfstream shortly after 6 a.m. Friday following a 12-hour van ride from Camden, S.C. After getting a little rest, Ever So Lucky went to the track for a mile gallop.

Trainer Jonathan Sheppard was scheduled to arrive in south Florida in time for training Saturday morning. He said Ever So Lucky could work Sunday or Monday. Sheppard is targeting the Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes, a seven-furlong race Feb. 11, for Ever So Lucky’s 3-year-old debut.

Thu, 01/26/2012 - 16:48

Gulfstream Park: Allowance draws intriguing cast of 3-year-olds

Barbara D. Livingston
Casual Trick, runner-up in the Gulfstream Park Derby, is entered in an allowance race Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –  While the Holy Bull will be the focus of Sunday’s card, an allowance for 3-year-olds held about 90 minutes earlier will garner a lot of attention as well.

Nine 3-year-olds were entered in the first-level allowance race at 1 1/16 miles, including Casual Trick, runner-up in the Gulfstream Park Derby; El Padrino, third as the favorite in the Grade 2 Remsen; and Take Charge Indy, fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The race is carded as the seventh.