Tuesday, April 23 2013

Keeneland Barn Notes

• VETERANS SET TO CONTEST CLOSING-DAY ELKHORN
• PRINCE WILL I AM RETURNS TO KEENELAND
• MAKER EQUALS SPRING WIN MARK ON SUNDAY
• GALLOPING OUT
• CLOSING WEEK SPECIAL EVENTS
• KEENELAND SPRING MEET LEADERS

Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks Update

KENTUCKY DERBY UPDATE – MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2013

BLACK ONYX – Sterling Racing’s Black Onyx (No. 12) jogged after the morning renovation break during the time reserved for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks contenders. Aurelio Gomez was aboard Black Onyx, who comes into Derby 139 off a victory in the Spiral (Grade III) in his stakes debut.

Sunday, April 21 2013

Orb Impresses Trainer With Kentucky Derby Tune-Up

Florida Derby Hero Breezes Strong 5 Furlongs at Payson Park

INDIANTOWN, FL – Florida Derby victor Orb impressed trainer Shug McGaughey Sunday morning at Payson Park while breezing five furlongs during a key workout for a scheduled start in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 4.

$150,000 Ben Ali Stakes (G3) Quotes

Charlie LoPresti (winning trainer of Successful Dan)

“He has tremendous heart. He’s got a lot of talent, and his injuries here lately haven’t been very bad. At Saratoga, he had some filling in his pastern. Probably I could have run him, but you want them to be 100 percent with a horse of this caliber. It wasn’t that hard to get him back to this race. (Jockey) Julien (Leparoux) has breezed him these past two times, and he’s told me he was as good as ever. And Dr. Larry Bramlage checked him and gave him a clean bill of health.”

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO HANDICAP QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES


JOE TALAMO, INTERACTION, WINNER: “We had a perfect trip. The whole way around I was able to save a lot of ground. Turning for home I took him out and he gave me a huge effort the last eighth of a mile. The horse that ran second (All Squared Away), you can’t take anything away from him, he was pretty hard to get by. My horse just showed a lot of heart and effort, he showed a lot of class today.”

The Road Princess Overnight Stakes Quotes

Michael McCarthy, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher, of Kauai Katie (No. 4): “I’d say that was pretty much textbook right there. The plan was to go ahead and let her run away from there and finish up nicely. It seemed she controlled the race from the start, set some nice fractions, didn’t overdo it, got the job done. I’d have to think this will [set her up for the Acorn] (Grade 1, one mile, Belmont Park, May 27). That’s been the plan all along.”

Saturday, April 20 2013

SUMMER FRONT ENJOYS SUCCESS IN GRADE 3 MIAMI MILE

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (April 20, 2013) – A promising colt early in his career when winning five of his first seven starts, including the Grade 3 Hill Prince, Waterford Stable’s took the first steps towards what could be a successful 4-year-old season when a 1 ½-length winner of the Grade 3 Miami Mile Handicap at Calder Casino & Race Course on Saturday, covering the eight-furlong trip in 1:35.31 over a turf course listed as good.

Winning Cause Gives Pletcher Fifth Coolmore Lexington Victory

Sweet Cassiopeia Takes Giant’s Causeway

LEXINGTON, KY (April 20, 2013) – Alto Racing’s Winning Cause roared past Cerro (IRE) in upper stretch and held off longshot General Election by a length to win the 32nd running of the $200,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G3) for three-year-olds before a crowd of 32,325 on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Keeneland.

SAN SIMEON STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

TYLER BAZE, CHIPS ALL IN, WINNER: “I wasn’t concerned about today at all. Not with the way he’s been training; he’s training lights out. He’s a real special horse and it’s just a privilege to be on him. He’s a really cool horse.”

Kentucky Derby & Oaks Update

PLETCHER QUARTET WORKS TOWARD OAKS
‘CINDERELLA STORY’ ROSE TO GOLD BREEZES
BLACK ONYX HAS STRONG GALLOP

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Saturday, April 20, 2013) – It was a busy Saturday morning at the Todd Pletcher barn at Churchill Downs as Dreaming of Julia (ranked No. 4 on the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” Leaderboard), Unlimited Budget (No. 3), Silsita (No. 10) and Princess of Sylmar (No. 7) all worked for the two-time Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) winning trainer.

$200,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G3) Quotes

Todd Pletcher (winning trainer of Winning Cause)

On whether he was expecting this type of performance
“To be honest, we weren’t sure. We were stretching him out and stepping up into a graded stakes off two weeks’ rest. The main reason (he was entered in the race) is he’s two for two at Keeneland going into this. We know he likes the surface and thought it was worth taking a shot.”

$100,000 Giant’s Causeway Stakes Quotes

Joe Rocco Jr. (winning jockey)

“She’s really nice. I’m really glad I got the opportunity to ride her. It was pretty uneventful. She broke really good, stalked the pace. She had plenty left to run through the stretch. She’s a really nice mare.”

On what instructions trainer William R. Connelly gave him
“Not really much: Just stay out of her way and let her do her thing. Obviously, she knows her way to the winner’s circle. I tried not to mess it up. She knew how to get there.”