Trainer Neil Howard and owner Donald Adam lost one Triple Crown hopeful during closing weekend at Fair Grounds, but on the same day the pair appeared to gain another.
Machen finished fifth in the Louisiana Derby, running the same kind of race – good middle move, no late punch – he had in the Risen Star Stakes. Those two-turn results have strongly suggested to Machen’s connections that he’s a better horse at shorter distances, and Machen’s upcoming schedule will be adjusted accordingly.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –Todd Pletcher has 13 horses entered in the 12 races run on Sunday’s Florida Derby Day card at Gulfstream Park. The shortest price of the baker’s dozen could very well be Travelin Man in the Grade 2, $150,000 Swale Stakes for 3-year-olds.
When Flashpoint – who defeated Travelin Man by 7 1/4 lengths in the Grade 2 Hutcheson here on Feb. 26 – entered Sunday’s $1 million Florida Derby Travelin Man became the prohibitive favorite for the Swale, run at seven furlongs.
Comma to the Top, the winner of the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity last December and two other stakes in 2010, was withdrawn from this weekend's third round of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager on Thursday after trainer Peter Miller told Churchill Downs officials that the Kentucky Derby is not likely to figure in the gelding's plans this spring.
The pool for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager opens at noon, Eastern, on Friday, and continues until 6 p.m., Eastern, on Sunday. Without Comma to the Top, the pool will feature 22 individual horses and a field that includes all other runners.
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The decision by the connections of Flashpoint to run their undefeated 3-year-old in the Florida Derby didn’t actually bring about a mad rush to the entry box for Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Swale Stakes.
Only six were entered in the seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds, led by Travelin Man, who finished second, albeit by 7 1/2 lengths to Flashpoint, in the Hutcheson last time out.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The 2011 Florida Derby, already the deepest of all the Kentucky Derby preps, got even stronger on Thursday after trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. and owner John Fort decided to add the undefeated speedster Flashpoint to the mix.
FLORIDA DERBY DAY: Watch Mike Welsch’s video workout report – tune in Sunday for live racing
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – J P’s Gusto donned blinkers for a Thursday workout at Oaklawn Park and after he breezed five furlongs in a bullet 58.60 seconds his trainer, Joe Petalino, said he would add the equipment for his next start. Thursday afternoon Petalino confirmed J P's Gusto's next race will be the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 16.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
Two European-trained horses are under consideration for the Kentucky Derby – War Pact and Master of Hounds.
The Bronx-born Joseph Allen nominated War Pact, his Kentucky-bred son of War Front, to the Triple Crown on Wednesday. Two-for-three on Fibresand at Deauville and Cagnes-sur-Mer, War Pact is ineligible for the European classics because he is a gelding.
“He will run in the Prix de Suresnes at Maisons-Laffitte on April 18,” said his trainer, Jean-Claude Rouget, on Thursday. “After that we will make a decision about America.”
