HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Smoke It Right has not made a wrong move in three career starts and with the right kind of performance Saturday in the $60,000 Mountain Valley at Oaklawn he could be headed to the Arkansas Derby, said his co-owner and trainer, Benard Chatters.
“We’re going to try to get to the big races,” Chatters said. “He’s a pretty nice kind of colt.”
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Stay Thirsty will try to step out of the shadow of his more heralded stablemate Uncle Mo and step onto the Triple Crown trail when he heads a field of nine entered to run in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While Mucho Macho Man will skip the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby, trainer Rick Dutrow said there is a chance that Flashpoint could make his two-turn debut in the Grade 1 fixture. Flashpoint remained undefeated with a spectacular 7 1/4-length victory over Travelin Man in Saturday’s Grade 2 Hutcheson, a performance for which he earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.
Dutrow said Wednesday that nothing definite has been picked out for Flashpoint’s next start but that many options are being considered, including the Florida Derby.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The $100,000 Timely Writer Handicap, the race trainer Todd Pletcher has earmarked for Eclipse Award winner Uncle Mo’s 3-year-old debut, has closed with 36 nominations. The one-mile Timely Writer will be run March 12.
Uncle Mo is one of 13 horses that Pletcher nominated for the Timely Writer. Pletcher’s other nominees include Travelin Man, runner-up in Saturday’s Grade 2 Hutcheson, and Stay Thirsty, who is expected to run Saturday in the Gotham at Aqueduct.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mucho Macho Man, winner of the Grade 2 Risen Star, will return to Fair Grounds to have his final Kentucky Derby prep in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 26.
Trainer Kathy Ritvo said she met with principal owner Dean Reeves on Tuesday, at which point the pair decided to bring Mucho Macho Man back to New Orleans rather than keep him here for the $1 million Florida Derby the following weekend.
Mucho Macho Man is owned in partnership by Reeves and the Dream Team Racing Stable.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Uncle Brent, a 3-year-old who ran the fastest six furlongs of the Oaklawn Park meet last Saturday, has been sold and is now in the care of trainer Lynn Whiting, said Eric Reed, who trained Uncle Brent for the partnership of West wind Farms and his assistant, Brent Taylor.
Reed said that Oaklawn Park owner Charles Cella purchased the horse privately. Uncle Brent moved to Writing’s stable at Oaklawn on Wednesday.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.- Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin confirmed Wednesday morning that Crossbow has suffered a small chip in his ankle and will be sidelined indefinitely.
Crossbow, who was scratched Saturday morning from the Grade 2 Hutcheson at Gulfstream Park, is in Lexington, Ky., where he will undergo surgery to remove the chip.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Uncle Brent ran the Oaklawn meet’s fastest six furlongs on Saturday when he won his debut in 1:09.41, and he could be headed next to the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel at Oaklawn on March 19. The 1 1/16-mile arace for 3-year-olds is being discussed for the horse, said Eric Reed, who trains Uncle Brent for Westwind Farms and his assistant, Brent Taylor.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Soldat came out of his two-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in good order and that he’s pointing him to the Transylvania at Keeneland. McLaughlin, of course, was joking about Soldat, who is headed to the Florida Derby.
Trainer Steve Standridge said Fountain of Youth runner-up Gourmet Dinner also came out of the race in excellent shape and that he’s leaning toward the Santa Anita Derby for his horse’s next start. Standridge wasn’t kidding.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While drawing post 1 in the 1 1/8-mile Fountain of Youth was perfect for his Soldat, drawing the rail with Crossbow in the seven-furlong Hutcheson was not what trainer Kiaran McLaughlin was looking for. As a result, McLaughlin opted to scratch Crossbow from the Hutcheson and wait for another day.
“The race shape was just wrong for him,” McLaughlin said. “He’s never been behind horses, and the way they ran the Hutcheson, with the pace as fast as it was, I was really glad he was back at the barn eating his afternoon dinner when the race was run.”
