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Sackatoga Stable's Funny Cide, whose status for Saturday's Travers Stakes has been termed "highly unlikely" by trainer Barclay Tagg, took a step closer to entering Wednesday when he worked a half-mile in :47 4/5 Tuesday morning.
Tuesday, August 19, 2003Looking to beat the rain, Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel had several of his top stars on the main track Saturday morning, led by likely Travers (gr.I) favorite Empire Maker.
Racing was held as scheduled at Saratoga Friday, with only a few changes necessitated by the power outage Thursday that affected an estimated 50 million people in the United States and Canada.
Saturday, August 16, 2003Trainer John Ward received a surprise phone call on Wednesday from New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer, three days after the Kentucky horseman made comments critical of the federal investigation of the New York Racing Association.
Thursday, August 14, 2003Hall of Fame trainer Phil Johnson tried to out-think Breeders' Cup Classic (gr.I) winner Volponi Wednesday. He was at least partially successful.
Kentucky Derby-winning trainer John Ward has called some of the recent attacks on the embattled New York Racing Association "essentially a political assassination campaign" linked to development of video lottery terminals at racetracks in the state.
Monday, August 11, 2003Mother Goose (gr. I) and Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I) winner Spoken Fur breezed four furlongs in :51 2/5 Sunday morning over the muddy Oklahoma training track in preparation for the Alabama (gr. I) on Saturday.
Empire Maker, Peace Rules and Sky Mesa all worked Saturday morning on the main track at Saratoga Race Course in preparation for their scheduled starts in stakes races on Aug. 3.
Saturday, July 26, 2003One week after winning Belmont's Mother Goose (gr. I) with Spoken Fur and the Delaware Handicap (gr. II) with Wild Spirit, the Hall of Fame combination of trainer Bobby Frankel and jockey Jerry Bailey join forces for Sunday's $250,000 Go for Wand Handicap (gr. I) with the immensely talented Sightseek.
Friday, July 25, 2003Trainer John Ward said Thursday that he is leaning toward running Sky Mesa in the Haskell Invitational (gr. I) at Monmouth Park on Aug. 3 instead of the Jim Dandy (gr. II) at Saratoga. "I'd say I'm 60-40," Ward said.
Thursday, July 24, 2003Trainer John Ward, believing that Funny Cide will be vulnerable in his first start since the Belmont, has opted to run Sky Mesa against the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner in the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 3.
Thursday, July 24, 2003Some six weeks after his bid for the Triple Crown ended in the Belmont Stakes (gr.I), the Funny Cide merchandising bandwagon has started rolling into his hometown, Saratoga Springs.
Tuesday, July 22, 2003Trainer John Ward is hoping the 2003 version of the Go For Wand Handicap (gr. I) at Saratoga is better for Forest Secrets than it was last year. Last year, the Debby Oxley-owned mare injured her left front ankle in the 1 1/8-mile race, which sent her to the sidelines for the remainder of the year.
Tuesday, July 22, 2003While leading Belmont Stakes (gr. I) contenders Funny Cide, Empire Maker and Dynever are getting most of the attention these days, it wasn't long ago that Sky Mesa, Vindication and Toccet were the darlings of the current 3-year-old class.
Thursday, May 29, 2003Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, often paired with some of racing's leading female turf horses in recent years, finds himself aboard another immensely talented grass runner in Lilac Queen for Saturday's $150,000 Sheepshead Bay Handicap (gr. IIT) at Belmont Park.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003Booklet, winner of the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. I), was honored as the 2002 Florida-bred Horse of the Year during the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association's annual awards dinner Monday night in Ocala.
Monday, March 17, 2003After talking to owner John Oxley on Monday, John Ward said that Sky Mesa's Kentucky Derby status is "very clouded," and that he feels the colt should not be a single betting interest in next week's second Derby Future Wager.
Tuesday, March 04, 2003The $150,000 Bayou Breeders' Cup Handicap at Fair Grounds, which drew multiple graded stakes winner Snow Dance, could use a break from Mother Nature. The last two years, the richest turf race for older fillies and mares at the meet has been transferred to the main track due to wet weather.
Thursday, February 27, 2003John Oxley's Booklet had his final workout on Sunday in preparation for Saturday's Sunshine Millions $1 million Ocala Breeders Sales Classic at Gulfstream Park, where the 4-year-old has posted a grade one win.
Sunday, January 19, 2003Holiday Thunder, a graded stakes-placed son of Thunder Gulch, enters stud at William Schettine's Signature Stallions.
Tuesday, January 14, 2003While there's questions surrounding Saturday's $100,000 Hal's Hope Handicap (gr. III) at Gulfstream Park, the biggest one is which horse will come out of the race with the best chance to make some noise in the $500,000 Donn Handicap (gr. I) on Feb. 22.
Thursday, January 09, 2003A bone scan performed Tuesday confirmed that the injury suffered by Sky Mesa was a minor one.
Thursday, November 07, 2002John Oxley's Perfect Story, a half-sister to Horse of the Year Point Given, drew off to a 3 3/4-length victory under jockey Pat Day in a maiden special weight race at Churchill Downs on Sunday in her second career start.
Sunday, November 03, 2002Perfect Story, a half-sister to 2001 Preakness, Belmont and and Travers (all gr. I) winner Point Given, ran a powerful debut race for owner John Oxley Saturday at Keeneland, losing by about a length to Belle of Perintown after taking the lead in the stretch with a wide move.
Saturday, October 05, 2002Sky Mesa, crowned leader of the juvenile division off his victory in the Hopeful (gr. I) at Saratoga, will face five foes on Saturday, in the $400,000 Lane's End Breeders' Futurity (gr. II) at Keeneland, in his final prep for the Breeders Cup Juvenile (gr. I) Oct. 26.
Thursday, October 03, 2002Keeneland's Fall Meet opens Friday and several racetrack stars are working toward weekend stakes races.
Tuesday, October 01, 2002More reserved than than usual after the race, trainer John Ward compared Hopeful winner Sky Mesa to a couple of other nice horses he's been around: champion Beautiful Pleasure and Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.
Sunday, September 01, 2002Sky Mesa, Winner of the Hopeful stakes, is in fine form the day after his sparkling effort, according to his trainer.
Sunday, September 01, 2002Sky Mesa grows up in a hurry and runs off with the Hopeful Stakes.
Saturday, August 31, 2002It's off to the Breeders' Cup Steeplechase (gr.I) for Zabenz, the Austrialian import who won the New York Turf Writers Cup (gr.I) Thursday.
Friday, August 30, 2002Riva Ridge (gr .II) and Dwyer (gr .II) winner Gygistar is a on course for the King's Bishop that is on the Travers Day program on Aug. 24.
Wednesday, August 14, 2002More than a year after becoming only the third jockey to reach 8,000 wins, Pat Day' continues to close in on another career milestone.
Friday, August 09, 2002The way Medaglia d'Oro ran in Sunday's Jim Dandy, trainer Bobby Frankel said he is likely to put a little more spacing in the colt's races. After the Travers, that is.
Monday, August 05, 2002John Oxley's 2-year-old Sky Mesa turned in an impressive performance in his maiden debut Saturday, winning the six-furlong third race by 7 3/4 lengths. Trainer Phil Johnson in Saratoga win cloumn for 42nd year.
Saturday, August 03, 2002Trainer Mark Hennig said Gygistar has a slim chance of making the Jim Dandy on Aug. 4; trainer John Kimmel got off to a good start, winning the first and third races; and trainer John Ward said that multiple stakes winner Booklet may return to the races for the first time since the Preakness later in the meet.
Wednesday, July 24, 2002A July 2 panel discussion on racetrack medication and the "reality of perception" led to allegations of medication abuse, racing surfaces that damage horses, and a regulatory system that hinders progress.
Wednesday, July 03, 2002On the eve of Saturday's Preakness Stakes (gr. I), the buzz around Baltimore's Pimlico Racecourse is which horses will be on the lead or pressing the pace so that War Emblem does not get an uncontested victory as he did in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I).
Friday, May 17, 2002With only two horses left to be drawn, including Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner War Emblem, and the first and last choices for post positions remaining, trainer Bob Baffert was poised to be either the straw that stirred the Preakness post position drink or a man without a plan.
Wednesday, May 15, 2002Trainer John Ward said Tuesday he's ready to "ambush" Saturday's Preakness field after Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. I) winner Booklet worked a half-mile in :48 and galloped out in five furlongs "1:02 and change" at Churchill Downs under Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day.
Tuesday, May 14, 2002John and Donna Ward are the Kentucky Thoroughbred Media's Ambassadors of Racing for 2002.
Monday, April 15, 2002More than $3,200 was raised for injured trainer Yvonne Azeff Tuesday night during a jockey versus media softball game in South Florida. The jockeys won the game 13 to 6.
Wednesday, March 27, 2002Eleven horses were entered Wednesday for Saturday's $1-million Florida Derby (gr. I) at Gulfstream Park, but the focus clearly was on two: Florida-bred Booklet and Harlan's Holiday.
Wednesday, March 13, 2002Fountain of Youth and Holy Bull winner Booklet turned in a bullet 5-furlong work in :59 4/5 at Gulfstream Friday morning in preparation for the March 16 Florida Derby. Also on the work tab was Florida Derby hopeful D'Coach, who breezed 5 furlongs in 1:02.
Friday, March 01, 2002Several of the top-name 3-year-olds worked over the Gulfstream track Saturday morning, headed by Remsen Stakes winner Saarland, whose five-furlong breeze in 1:02 from the gate may have earned him a berth in next Saturday's Fountain of Youth Stakes.
Saturday, February 09, 2002Assistant trainer Yvonne Azeff, who has been in a coma since suffering a severe head injury in a spill at Gulfstream on Jan. 27, has begun to show progress over the past 24 hours, trainer John Ward Jr. said.
Thursday, February 07, 2002Holy Bull winner Booklet, breezed a sharp 5 furlongs in 1:00 3/5 Friday at Gulfstream Park in preparation for the Feb. 16 Fountain of Youth Stakes. The smallish son of Notebook, who was purchased by John and Debby Oxley prior to the Holy Bull, has won five of his six career starts.
Friday, February 01, 2002Assistant trainer Yvonne Azeff, seriosuly injured after being thrown from her pony at Gulfstream last Saturday, appears from all signs to be making improvement at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, trainer John Ward said Thursday. Azeff has been unconscious since the accident. Although Ward had heard that Azeff's condition had been upgraded, hospital spokesperson Tara Bauer said Thursday afternoon her condition still was listed as serious.
Thursday, January 31, 2002Assistant trainer Yvonne Azeff, who suffered a serious head injury after being unseated by the stable pony Saturday, remained unconscious Tuesday at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla.
Tuesday, January 29, 2002Assistant trainer Yvonne Azeff, who was injured Saturday after being thrown and pinned beneath the stable pony, was still unconscious at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. as of Monday morning, a spokesperson at trainer John Ward's barn said. All tests have proven negative and all her vital signs are good. "She's getting better, but very slowly," the spokesperson said.
Sunday, January 27, 2002Yvonne Azeff, an assistant to trainer John T. Ward Jr., was injured Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park when she was thrown from the horse she was riding after it became agitated by another horse. Azeff was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital and was listed in "serious" condition as of 1:00 p.m.
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