In the week since Reddam Racing's I'll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby, trainer Doug O'Neill has been a gracious celebrity, taking part in many interviews, making appearances and posing for photos. Before his colt went to the track Sunday morning, O'Neill changed roles to a fan, happy to be able to chat with Ron Turcotte, Secretariat's jockey.
Sagamore Farm's Tiger Walk was shipped from Kevin Plank's nearby farm in Glyndon, Maryland, to Pimlico Race Course Sunday morning for a half-mile workout in preparation for Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
With more than an inch of rain in the Louisville, Kentucky, area and more coming down Sunday morning, trainer Dale Romans opted to postpone a work for Preakness Stakes contender Cozzetti and instead sent the colt out for a 1 1/2-mile gallop after the renovation break under exercise rider Romero Cordache.
Jockey Inez Karlsson, who became a mother for the first time last July, has decided to put her jockey career on hold -- at least for Arlington's 2012 season -- to pursue the rewards of motherhood.
Heart of Destiny, second in last October's Grade 1 Alcibiades and most recently fourth in the Grade 1 Ashland, both over Keeneland's Polytrack, heads a field of 14 fillies entered in Thursday's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brisnet.com/edgeped/heartofdestinyalw.html"> 8TH race</a> at Churchill Downs and trainer Jimmy Baker is hopeful the race will set her up for the Grade 3 Regret Stakes on June 16 under the Twin Spires.
Stay Thirsty, who marked himself one of the leading three-year-olds of 2011 in winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Race Course, will make his four-year-old debut Thursday at Belmont Park in the $90,000 Vanlandingham, a 1 1/16-mile overnight stakes scheduled as the day's third race with an approximate post of 1:54 p.m. (EDT).
Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Currency Swap captured the $83,300 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brisnet.com/edgeped/youandistakes12.pdf">You and I Stakes</a> at Belmont Park on Saturday in wire-to-wire fashion. Sent off as the nearly 3-2 favorite, the Teresa Pompay trainee completed the seven-furlong contest in 1:22 2/5, winning by three-quarters of a length over the fast dirt. Jockey Rajiv Maragh was aboard to guide the High Cotton three-year-old to his second stakes victory and first win of 2012.
Brereton Jones and trainer Larry Jones opted to bypass the Kentucky Derby with dual Grade 2-placed Mark Valeski and the move paid off as the Proud Citizen colt scored his first stakes win in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brisnet.com/edgeped/peterpan12.pdf">Peter Pan Stakes</a> at Belmont Park. Jockey Rosie Napravnik, who piloted the Jones duo's Believe You Can to victory in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, was aboard as Mark Valeski finished nine furlongs on the fast track in 1:48 1/5.
In a reprise of the Grade 2 San Vicente earlier this year at Santa Anita, Karl Watson, Mike Pegram and Paul Weitman's Drill rallied to deny American Act in Saturday's Grade 3, $98,000 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brisnet.com/edgeped/lazbarrera12.pdf">Lazaro Barrera Memorial Stakes</a> at Hollywood Park. The Bob Baffert trainee thus reaffirmed his status as a seven-furlong specialist, moving his record to three-for-three at that distance.
Dale Romans has been training horses for more than 25 years. He has saddled more than 1,500 winners, his runners have earned nearly $70 million and his long list of graded wins include such prestigious races as the Group 1 Dubai World Cup and Preakness Stakes.
First-time starter Aberfoyle Mill scored a front-running victory in Woodbine's 1ST race on Saturday, becoming the first North American winner sired by multiple Grade 1 star Street Boss.
On a sunny Saturday morning at Pimlico, trainer Doug O'Neill was very enthusiastic about Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another's chances of winning the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, next Saturday's $1 million Preakness Stakes.
Peachtree Stable's Mamma Kimbo, undefeated in two starts and winner of the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes in her most recent outing, worked a bullet five furlongs at Churchill Downs in :59 3/5 in preparation for an anticipated start in Friday's Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico.
Preakness week unofficially started Saturday morning at Pimlico Race Course with the running of the "Down the Stretch for SGK" Preakness 5K. All 643 runners began the race by breaking off through the starting gate. The entire 3.1 mile race took place on Pimlico property, which included one trip around the dirt course, finishing in the famed Infield.
Australian phenom Black Caviar extended her unbeaten sequence to 21 with another risibly easy victory Saturday, cantering home by a measured 1 1/4 lengths in the Group 1 Goodwood at Morphettville. Now the planet's top-ranked sprinter will indeed take on the world in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot June 23.
Jerry Crawford, managing partner of Donegal Racing, announced Friday that Dullahan, the two-time Grade 1 winner and third place finisher in this year's Kentucky Derby, will race next in the Belmont Stakes on June 9.
"I'm looking for energy and for him to maintain his stride. He has such a long stride. He continues to keep that," O'Neill said. "He's got great energy and a great appetite. Those are the basic things I'm looking to maintain."
Trainer Larry Jones revealed Friday that he will likely point Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can to Belmont Park's Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes, run at 1 1/16 miles on June 23.
The longest Grade 1 steeplechase in the country, the $150,000 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brisnet.com/edgeped/iroquoisjump12">Calvin Houghland Iroquois</a> over three miles, will be renewed Saturday at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tennessee. Seeking an unprecedented third straight win in the Iroquois is Tax Ruling, a nine-year-old son of the recently deceased Dynaformer.
Pluck, a sensational last-to-first winner of the 2010 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, will enter stud at Vinery Australia for the upcoming Southern Hemisphere breeding season. Standing alongside his sire, More Than Ready, he will serve for a fee of A$11,000, including GST (goods and services tax).
<i><b><font face="Arial" size="4">BELMONT NOTEBOOK</font></b></i>
Next year, Saratoga will go back 150 years to celebrate the birth of Thoroughbred racing at the Spa, with technology and activities that could never have been imagined when Saratoga racing was founded in 1863.
The Arlington Handicapping Challenge (AHC), a series of innovative, live-money handicapping contests, returns for the 2012 live meet, with the first contest slated for May 26.
Trainer Buff Bradley admits to not remembering the early days of every horse foaled on his Indian Ridge Farm near Frankfort, Kentucky; however, Bradley certainly remembers the birthday of Grade 1 Humana Distaff winner Groupie Doll.
Trainer Doug O'Neill took a red-eye flight from California to watch I'll Have Another on the track at Pimlico Race Course Thursday morning and, in a matter of minutes, his Preakness-bound colt made the overnight trip worthwhile.
Team Valor International and Mark Ford's Went the Day Well jogged and galloped in a field Thursday morning at Fair Hill Training Center near Elkton, Maryland.
<i><b><font face="Arial" size="4">HANDICAPPING INSIGHTS</font></b></i>
Jason Shandler and Tom LaMarra handicap the Peter Pan Stakes and quickly review the Kentucky Derby.
<i><b><font face="Arial" size="4">PREAKNESS REPORT</font></b></i>
A little more than a week removed from an historic victory in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks aboard Believe You Can, jockey Rosie Napravnik will guide potential favorite Mark Valeski in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brisnet.com/edgeped/peterpan12">Peter Pan</a> for three-year-olds at Belmont Park. The 1 1/8-mile test is often used as a springboard to the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, the third jewel in the Triple Crown, which is scheduled for June 9.
Monmouth Park, a storied name in American Thoroughbred racing, will open for the 2012 season on Saturday under the auspices of Darby Development LLC, the management company representing the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.
Members of trainer Doug O'Neill's staff liked what the saw Wednesday morning when Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another made his first trip to the track at Pimlico, the site of his next start, the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes on May 19.
Kathleen Kelly has been named Ms. Preakness Pink Warrior for the 137th Preakness Stakes. Ms. Preakness Pink Warrior will serve as the official Preakness ambassador at all events leading up to and including the middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown.
Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another was settled into his new home in Barn D at Pimlico Tuesday morning as the focus has shifted toward the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes on May 19.
Arlington Park continues in its efforts to promote fan education with a series of 16 "Learn to Win" seminars to be held in the track's Park area during the 2012 season that began May 4.
<i><b><font face="Arial" size="4">HOLLYWOOD PARK NOTEBOOK </font></b></i>
Reddam Racing's I'll Have Another boarded a van at Churchill Downs at 1:19 p.m. (EDT) Monday for the first leg of a journey to Pimlico Race Course, where his quest for a sweep of the Triple Crown will resume in the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes on May 19. Following a flight from Louisville International Airport to Baltimore-Washington International Airport scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. arrival, the 2012 Kentucky Derby champion will be provided an escort to Barn D on the Pimlico backstretch by the Baltimore City Police Department.
Grade 1 winner <b>Toby's Corner </b>(Bellamy Road), third in both the Grade 2 New Orleans and Grade 2 General George this year, breezed five furlongs in 1:03 over the fast track at Fair Hills on Saturday.
Three potential candidates for the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 19 worked Monday morning over the fast main track at Churchill Downs.
The Breeders' Cup announced Monday that Robert N. Elliston, President and CEO of Turfway Park since 1999, has been named Chief Operating Officer of Breeders' Cup Ltd.
And this latest victory also marked a notable hat-trick for the handler, with Able One, his 2007 hero, having taken the spoils in 2010 ahead of Xtension's back-to-back wins. Moore, the winning-most trainer in the Champions Mile's 11-year history, is now considering overseas targets with the game five-year-old.
"The highest of the highs," trainer Doug O'Neill said Sunday morning of the emotions that winning Kentucky Derby 138 with I'll Have Another brought.
Trainer Aidan O'Brien completed a Guineas double at Newmarket Sunday, not with hot favorite Maybe, but with unheralded 25-1 shot Homecoming Queen. Unlike stablemate Camelot, who had to fight from off the pace for Saturday's Group 1 Two Thousand Guineas, Homecoming Queen ran her rivals ragged on the front end in Sunday's Group 1 One Thousand Guineas and romped by nine lengths.
Both of Saturday's Grade 3 turf winners at Belmont Park were said to be doing well at their respective barns Sunday morning, with Phipps Stable's Boisterous resting comfortably after taking the $150,000 Fort Marcy, and Phillips Racing Partnership's Winter Memories basking in the glow of her $150,000 Beaugay victory.
It was a record-breaking 138th running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby as a crowd of 165,307, the largest in history, gathered on a beautiful day at Churchill Downs to watch Reddam Racing LLC's California-based I'll Have Another rally to defeat favored Bodemeister and win the roses that go to the winner of America's greatest race.
Dullahan, who just failed to reach Bodemeister when finishing a neck behind in third in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, is on the fence to run in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 12.
Chadds Ford Stable's Union Rags was "bright" Sunday morning after his troubled seventh-place finish in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
Team Valor International and Mark Ford's Went the Day Well sported a cut on his right front ankle suffered during his fourth-place Kentucky Derby finish that "didn't seem like a big deal" to trainer Graham Motion, who reported that his colt otherwise "seemed fine."
Trainer Bob Baffert said his two Kentucky Derby runners, Bodemeister and Liaison, came out of Saturday's at Churchill Downs race in good shape.
