Morton Fink's Wise Dan, winner of the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in his most recent start on September 16, was doing well Saturday morning after working a best-of-25 half-mile in :47 2/5 over Keeneland's Polytrack on Friday.
Sarava, winner of the 2002 Belmont Stakes, has been retired to Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, Kentucky.
Mike McCarty's Unbridled's Note had never raced on turf or faced older horses prior to Friday's Grade 3, $100,000 Eddie D. Stakes at Santa Anita, but the Steve Asmussen sophomore professionally handled a field of seasoned turf sprinters in the opening-day feature. The Unbridled's Song colt rallied late to overhaul the front-running Chosen Miracle, in a well-timed move worthy of the race's new honoree, retired Hall of Fame rider Eddie Delahoussaye. The Eddie D., formerly known as the Morvich, serves as a course-and-distance prep for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.
Saturday's Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket, the first race on the new "Road to the Kentucky Derby" scoring system, includes a half-brother to 2008 Kentucky Derby-winning champion Big Brown -- Afonso de Sousa. The son of Henrythenavigator is the lone entrant from the yard of Aidan O'Brien, who won last year's Royal Lodge with Daddy Long Legs and also finished third with Wrote.
The Breeders' Cup and the Los Angeles Dodgers have announced that Monday is "Breeders' Cup Night" at Dodgers Stadium, in celebration of the upcoming World Championships at Santa Anita Park. The 7:10 p.m. (PDT) game will pit the Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants.
Unbeaten Certify provided Godolphin with the team's third consecutive success in the Group 1 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket on Friday. White Moonstone and Lyric of Light have taken the mile event for the previous two years, but neither matched the style and panache of Certify's success.
Trainer Christophe Clement said he hopes a change in race dynamics will help Summer Front earn his first Grade 1 victory when he competes in the $400,000 Jamaica Handicap on October 6 at Belmont Park.
Sir Henry Cecil is eagerly anticipating bringing Frankel for a racecourse gallop at Newmarket before racing Saturday. The world's best Thoroughbred will be joined in the exercise by Bullet Train and Midsummer Sun as part of the unbeaten Galileo colt's preparations for the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot on October 20.
For the second meeting in a row, Tampa Bay Downs will run 25 stakes worth $2,595,000. The lucrative added-money slate is highlighted by the 33rd edition of the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, a 1 1/16-mile showcase for three-year-old Triple Crown candidates, on March 9.
Larry Jones is back and racing is the better for it. The 56-year-old trainer, who retired at the top of his game on November 7, 2009, returned in early 2011 with the same fervor as the day he left. Anyone talking with the personable Kentuckian could recognize that in a heartbeat.
Trainer Todd Pletcher shoots for a Grade 2 double with his team of juveniles at Belmont Park on Sunday. Unbeaten Grade 2 Adirondack heroine Kauai Katie looms large in the $200,000 Matron Stakes for fillies, and debut maiden winner Unabashed gives the barn a promising second string. But the Pletcher duo in the $200,000 Futurity -- Overanalyze and Drum Roll -- must step up their game while meeting hot-shot maiden winner Carried Interest, speedy New York-bred Weekend Hideaway and Grade 2 Sanford runner-up Handsome Jack.
Due to anticipated heavy rain, Friday's live racing card at Belmont Park has been canceled to ensure the track surfaces are in optimal condition for Saturday's card, which features six graded stakes, all part of the Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" Challenge Series. The winners of those races qualify for an automatic starting position in the corresponding Breeders' Cup Championship race with pre-entry and entry fees paid.
Two of the top contenders in Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 John Henry Turf Championship Stakes (formerly the Clement Hirsch) at Santa Anita, Bourbon Bay and Slim Shadey, will return to races following a stint on the sidelines. Bourbon Bay makes his first appearance since capturing the Grade 2 San Juan Capistrano Handicap in April, and Slim Shadey has been freshened since a fifth in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes on Del Mar's opening weekend.
You missed the worst million-dollar race I have ever seen (the Pennsylvania Derby), and one of the best races with a four-horse field that I can remember (Questing vs. My Miss Aurelia in the Cotillion). read blog
Over 50 years after his initial performance of the song at Carnegie Hall, Grammy-award winner Tony Bennett will perform his classic hit "The Best is Yet to Come" at the 2012 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, Breeders' Cup announced Thursday at a media event featuring Tony Bennett at Siro's Restaurant in Manhattan.
Nagging foot issues have limited Jersey Town's schedule in recent years, but trainer Barclay Tagg said the six-year-old is entering Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Kelso Handicap in the best shape since he won the 2010 Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap.
Mrs. Calvin Houghland's Pierrot Lunaire, the longest shot on the board at 48-1, took the lead over the final jump and held off a furious late charge from Spy in the Sky to win Thursday's Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory steeplechase at Belmont Park.
Swifty Farms' Pataky Kid, three-length winner of the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Futurity on September 8, breezed a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 Monday morning at Chicago's northwest suburban oval in preparation for Keeneland's upcoming Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity on October 6.
Game on Dude, a leading contender for Horse of the Year, heads a field of nine in Saturday's $250,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. The 1 1/8-mile event is one of five Grade 1 stakes on a dynamite program that serves as a precursor to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita on November 2-3.
Ostensibly a prep for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park might serve as a launching pad to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic if the Bill Mott-trained To Honor and Serve pulls off a win in the one-turn mile. The Hall of Fame conditioner left some wiggle room earlier this week when asked which Breeders' Cup race his Grade 1 Woodward winner would ultimately target.
The legendary Zenyatta, winner of the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita and Horse of the Year in 2010, will be honored for all-time by Santa Anita Park as a life-sized statue of the great mare will be unveiled in Santa Anita's Paddock Gardens area at noon (PDT) this Saturday.
Point of Entry can solidify his present status as the nation's leading long-distance turf performer with a victory in Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational. The 1 1/2-mile fixture over Belmont Park's Widener course came up light compared to other stakes on Super Saturday with only six names dropped in the entry box.
The top three from the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap on August 4 are in the spotlight Saturday when they headline a surprisingly robust field in the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup. The historic 1 1/4-mile test tops a bumper card of Breeders' Cup preps on Belmont Park's "Super Saturday" program.
COMMENTARY
Undefeated two-year-old filly So Many Ways, winner of the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes and Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes, will not travel to California to run in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, it was announced Wednesday.
The Great Race Place, Santa Anita, opens a 24-day Autumn Meet Friday, which will be highlighted by the Breeders' Cup World Championships on November 2-3.
BELMONT NOTEBOOK
Canary Row, trained in Ireland by Patrick Prendergast, is among eight runners for the Group 3, £40,000 Somerville Tattersall over seven furlongs at Newmarket on Thursday, the first day of the Cambridgeshire Festival.
Winning Express, trained by Ed McMahon, is one of the 15 fillies engaged for the Group 1, £163,500 Cheveley Park at Newmarket on Saturday after she was supplemented Monday at a cost of £15,000.
The race to become champion steeplechaser of 2012 is about to reach its final fences as Belmont Park hosts the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory on Thursday.
Trevor Denman celebrates his 60th birthday Monday and on Friday, he'll embark upon his 30th season as the voice of Santa Anita when the 2012 Autumn Meet gets underway at 1 p.m. (PDT).
Evan recaps the Cotillion, Gallant Bloom, Pennsylvania Derby, and more! Evan also gives you his "e-ticket" for a few Breeders' Cup races. watch video
On Saturday, she wrapped up her gifted history at the local oval with a victory by almost seven lengths, and that led to the ice cream celebration that had been publicly promised to the racing fans on hand by the acknowledged dean of Chicago newscasters.
"I am honored and very proud to receive this award," said Mazza, who has trained horses for Holly Crest Farm and other stables in New Jersey for 46 years. "It is very meaningful to me."
Gary and Mary West's homebred Book Review rolled to a convincing victory as the 7-5 favorite in Saturday night's $400,000 Charles Town Oaks. Making her two-turn debut in this seven-furlong scramble around Charles Town's tight oval, the Chad Brown trainee circled the field on the final turn and kicked 1 3/4 lengths clear.
At Belmont Park on Sunday, Grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap winner Fort Larned turned in his final serious work for Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational, covering five furlongs in 1:01 shortly after 6:30 a.m. (EDT).
Trainer Dale Romans, who has already has established a personal record for single-season North American earnings in 2012, has confirmed Little Mike and Finnegans Wake for Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational and Dullahan primed for the Grade 1, $400,000 Jamaica Handicap on October 6.
Classic winner Shackleford breezed five furlongs in a bullet 1:00 4/5 at his Churchill Downs base on Sunday, pleasing trainer Dale Romans in his last major move ahead of Saturday's Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont.
J. Paul Reddam's Handsome Mike parlayed a front-running trip into a two-length upset in Saturday's Grade 2, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, winning as the 19-1 longest shot at Parx Racing. The Scat Daddy colt proved resilient after setting a moderate pace beneath Irad Ortiz Jr., withstanding challenges from Alpha and Stephanoatsee before re-asserting command in deep stretch, and snapped a seven-race losing skein in the process.
In a race that included reigning champion female sprinter Musical Romance and multiple Grade 1 queen Turbulent Descent, it was Padua Stable's homebred Dust and Diamonds who proved superior in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont Park.
Last year's unbeaten champion two-year-old filly My Miss Aurelia outdueled pro tem divisional leader Questing by a head in Saturday's $971,200 Cotillion Stakes, in a climactic finish to the first Grade 1 event ever staged in Pennsylvania. The 1 1/16-mile test served up a clash worthy of the occasion -- a virtual match race, with Eclipse Award implications -- and it lived up to the advance billing.
After an unsuccessful Triple Crown campaign, Optimizer looks to have found his home back on the turf. The D. Wayne Lukas-trained colt captured his first graded stakes win in record fashion on Saturday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park.
Multiple Grade 1 winner The Factor has been retired from racing and will enter stud at William S. Farish's Lane's End Farm near Versailles, Kentucky, for the 2013 breeding season. Raced by George Bolton and David Shimmon's Fog City Stable, The Factor won six races, five of them graded, including the Grade 1 Malibu and Grade 1 Pat O'Brien.
Godolphin aims for a third consecutive victory in the Group 1, £163,500 Fillies' Mile with Certify going for the highlight of the second day of the Cambridgeshire Festival at Newmarket this upcoming Friday. The Mahmood Al Zarooni-trained filly is one of the ante-post favorites for next year's Group 1 One Thousand Guineas, back at Newmarket, following three impressive victories that included a cozy neck success in the Group 2 May Hill over a mile at Doncaster on September 14.
Owner Ahmed Zayat is holding out hope that his star colt Paynter, who has waged a terrific battle against the twin evils of colitis and laminitis, could actually make it back to the races.
West Point Thoroughbreds announced the retirement of its nine-year-old warrior Awesome Gem on Friday. A well-traveled Grade 1 winner, all-surface performer, and earner of more than $2.8 million, the Awesome Again gelding remarkably won or placed in at least one graded stakes in each of his seven seasons of racing.
Demand for quality yearlings from an exceptionally deep global buying bench drove strong commerce throughout Keeneland's September Yearling Sale, producing double-digit increases in average and median prices.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said he wants to survey weekend workouts before he plots paths for many of his Belmont graded stakes contenders, but did confirm four-year-olds San Pablo and Stay Thirsty for the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on September 29.
Japanracing.jp reports that the Yasutoshi Ikee-trained Trailblazer is currently in Southern California in preparation for his scheduled run in the Grade 2 Arroyo Seco Mile (formerly known as the Oak Tree Mile) on October 6. Trailblazer, a son of Zenno Rob Roy, is aimed ultimately for the November 3 Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita.
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