Santa Anita
A scratched-down field of four, led by co-headliners As Time Goes By (American Pharoah) and Ce Ce (Elusive Quality), will line up in Saturday's GII Santa Maria S. at Santa Anita. The well-bred As Time Goes By, a half-sister to champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) from the immediate family of Omaha Beach (War Front) and Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway), followed a strong second behind Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GI Beholder Mile S. Mar. 13 with a blowout, front-running win in the GII Santa Margarita S. Apr. 24....
Trainer Richard Mandella has been summoned to a stewards' hearing to answer a California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) complaint of an over-threshold test finding for methocarbamol, a Class 4 and Penalty Category C skeletal muscle relaxant that turned up in the post-race test of Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) after the multiple graded stakes winner ran third in the GIII San Simeon S. at Santa Anita Mar. 13. According to the May 7 complaint, split-sample blood testing confirmed the presence of the drug. Methocarbamol's 4C categorization is on the least-severe side...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 6th-SA, $61K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m, post time: 6:50 p.m. ET Dixiana Farms-bred AMERICAN ADMIRAL (American Pharoah) was purchased by Hunter Valley Farm for $340,000 at Keeneland November in 2018 and fetched $1.3 million from Jamie McCalmont on behalf of M.V. Magnier and Sarah Kelly at KEESEP the following fall. That price was the richest of 70 of his sire's second-crop yearlings to sell in 2019, bar the sales-topping $8.2 million Mandy Pope paid for the half-sister to Beholder (Henny Hughes) and Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday)....
Juddmonte homebred Laurel River (Into Mischief) looks to become the latest graded winner for his red-hot sire in a four-horse renewal of Santa Anita's GIII Lazaro Barrera S. Saturday. Fifth as the favorite in his career bow at Santa Anita Oct. 3, the bay graduated by 4 1/4 lengths next out in Arcadia Apr. 3. The Chosen Vron (Vronsky) seeks his first win in open company here. A dominant debut winner against fellow Cal-breds Dec. 27, the gelding checked in third behind Concert Tour (Street Sense) in the GII San...
2nd-Santa Anita, $63,196, Msw, 5-9, 2yo, 4 1/2f, :52.04, ft, 4 lengths. STREET ART (c, 2, Street Boss--Cool Jazz, by Henny Hughes) was backed down to 8-5 for this first outing and ran to the money to lead home a one-two for his sire. Quickly clear, the chestnut was chased by Bochombo (Street Boss) around the bend but was not for catching as he cruised home a convincing four-length winner. The winner is a grandson of MGISW I Ain't Bluffing (Pine Bluff), making his dam a half to GSW/MGISP two-turn...
Santa Anita Park and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club have joined forces to expand upon Del Mar's "Ship & Win" program as out-of-state horses, who make their first California-based starts in May and June at Santa Anita, will still be eligible for Del Mar's purse incentives, beginning with their Summer Meet opener July 16. Effective May 1, out-of-state horses can start up to twice at Santa Anita through closing day of the current 2021 Winter/Spring Meet June 20 and still be eligible for Del Mar's Ship & Win program bonuses....
A total of 21 added-money events, 12 at the graded level, have been scheduled for the autumn meeting at Santa Anita Park, set for Oct. 1-31. Fully one-third of the stakes races serve as 'Win and You're In' races for the Breeders' Cup World Championships to be held Nov. 6 and 7 at Del Mar. The opening day of the meet features the GI American Pharoah S. for the 2-year-old males at a mile and a sixteenth, the corresponding 2-year-old filly race--the GI Chandelier S.--and the $100,000 Speakeasy S. for...
A complaint involving a banned bisphosphonate has been lodged by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) against trainer Jeffrey Metz, summoning him to a stewards' hearing. According to a CHRB complaint dated Apr. 29, a positive for tiludronic acid was confirmed via split-sample testing from Camino de Estrella (Mineshaft), who finished sixth in the third race Sept. 27, 2020, at Santa Anita. The now-7-year-old gelding was claimed that day for $20,000, and has finished no better than sixth in four subsequent starts for a four-way partnership that includes trainer Bill...
The fastest 3-year-old in training will not be found in the field for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. In one of the most impressive debuts turned in by a 3-year-old colt in years, 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) not only won Saturday's maiden special weight at Santa Anita by 13 1/4 lengths, he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure (video). Based on the numbers, that makes him faster than any of the 20 horses lining up for the Derby. His stablemate, Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), earned a 100 Beyer...
Sent off the prohibitive 3-5 favorite against a seemingly overmatched field in Saturday's GII Santa Margarita S. at Santa Anita, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith's As Time Goes By (American Pharoah) was taken straight to the front by Hall of Famer Mike Smith and reeled off opening fractions of :23.17 and :46.98 as Harvest Moon (Uncle Mo) offered some mild pressure. Well in hand and not doing more than she had to down the backside, the half-sister to 3-year-old champion Will Take Charge was finally given her...
Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing's Flightline (Tapit) turned in one of the more impressive debut performances in recent memory Saturday at Santa Anita to stamp himself as a no brainer 'TDN Rising Star'. Pounded down to 4-5 favoritism into the face of two Bob Baffert firsters, a $650,000 Simon Callaghan trainee and a MyRacehorse runner, the John Sadler pupil and $1-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad broke perhaps a half-step slowly but quickly rushed up through horses to set a pressured pace from the...
Godolphin's Essential Quality (Tapit) headlined a quintet of hopefuls that put in their final major works at Churchill Downs Saturday morning ahead of next weekend's Run for the Roses. Also working on an overcast morning were Juddmonte Farms' Mandaloun (Into Michief), Klaravich Stables' Highly Motivated (Into Mischief), Erv Woolsey and Keith Asmussen's Super Stock (Dialed In) and Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimneys Farm's King Fury (Curlin). Heading the Brad Cox Derby team, last season's juvenile champ worked five furlongs in 1:00.40. With exercise rider Edvin Vargas aboard, the likely...