HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Boys At Tosconova, who was expected to start as the favorite in Sunday's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, will not start, Gulfstream Park's racing secretary, Dan Bork, confirmed on Wednesday.
Bork said that trainer Rick Dutrow had informed the track's stakes coordinator, Duano Christo, that Boys at Tosconova was not running in the Holy Bull.
"It's a shame he's not going to run," said Bork, " but I think we'll still have a solid field of seven or eight horses in the race."
ARCADIA, Calif. – Tapizar, winner of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in his stakes debut at Santa Anita on Jan. 15, will make his next start in the $250,000 Robert Lewis Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 12, trainer Steve Asmussen said Wednesday.
Tapizar won the Sham Stakes over 1 1/16 miles by 4 1/4 lengths, leading throughout. Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Tapizar won a maiden race at Churchill Downs by 10 1/2 lengths on Nov. 27, his fourth career start.
Hawthorne Race Course received permission from the Illinois Racing Board on Tuesday to reduce the purse of the Grade 3 Illinois Derby from $500,000 to $250,000. The racing board also approved Hawthorne’s request to postpone the Grade 3, $200,000 Sixty Sails until sometime during the track’s fall meet, and to eliminate four Sundays from the Hawthorne race dates the board had approved last fall.
It’s possible the one-two finishers from Saturday’s Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes for 3-year-olds won’t be back to contest the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds, but Lecomte last-place finisher Justin Phillip has been lightly penciled in for the race despite a disappointing performance Saturday.
Wilkinson won the Lecomte by a head over Pants On Fire, who set a slow pace (48.94 seconds to the half-mile) on a moderate-to-quick playing surface but could not hold the winner. Wilkinson’s one mile, 40-yard time produced a Beyer speed figure of 77.
J P’s Gusto worked seven furlongs in 1:25.40 on Monday at Santa Anita, preparing for his expected 3-year-old debut in the $250,000 Robert Lewis Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 12.
Trainer David Hofmans said that JP’s Gusto worked the final quarter-mile in 23.20 seconds. JP’s Gusto was ridden in the workout by Iggy Puglisi.
“He loves this track,” Hofmans said. “Iggy said he goes so effortlessly over it.”
NEW ORLEANS – The Lecomte Stakes is a race for 3-year-olds. It should come as no surprise that Neil Howard won it.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – “Can you get me the long range forecast for Florida Derby Day?”
That was a smiling Kiaran McLaughlin’s first comment in the winner’s circle after his 3-year-old prospect Soldat had skipped through the slop to a convincing 10 3/4-length victory over Cool Blue Red Hot and five other 3-year-olds in Friday’s nine-furlong allowance feature. The performance thrust Soldat, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up, right into the thick of any current discussion regarding potential Kentucky Derby candidates.
Trainer Nick Zito scratched Dialed In, his top 3-year-old prospect, out of Friday’s featured ninth race less than three hours before post time due to the sloppy racetrack. Zito said he would likely run Dialed In, a son of Mineshaft, back in the Grade 3 Holy Bull a week from Sunday.
Tapizar demolished four rivals Jan. 15 in the Sham, earning a 97 Beyer while propelled by the bias. Making his first start since Nov. 27, the Steve Asmussen trainee confirmed his status as one of the elite 3-year-olds in California even while racing greenly off the turn. Tapizar will remain at Santa Anita and aim for the Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
Comma to the Top, the winner of the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity on Dec. 18 and two other stakes at the Hollywood Park fall meeting, worked six furlongs in 1:13.60 on Wednesday at Hollywood Park.
Miller said Comma to the Top remains on schedule for the $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 12.
“We’re leaning toward that race,” Miller said. “We’ll start to tighten the screws a little bit next week.”
