AP Photo/Adam Coglianese
Nick Zito-trained 3-year-olds won the 9th and 10th at Gulfstream.
As expected, 2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion War Pass rolled in his 3-year-old debut at Gulfstream on Sunday. But Nick Zito’s barn got another lift earlier in the card when Cool Coal Man captured the Fountain of Youth, a major Kentucky Derby prep. Story | Watch
War Pass’ Kentucky Derby trail begins at Gulfstream Park on Sunday.
2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champ War Pass will begin his quest for the May 3 Kentucky Derby with a 1-mile allowance start at Gulfstream Park on Sunday. Story
Denis of Cork takes the Grade 3 Southwest S. at Oaklawn on Monday.
Kentucky Derby hopeful Denis of Cork claimed the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn on Monday, beating 10 other 3-year-olds. The Southwest is one of two preps for the April 12 Arkansas Derby. Story
Smooth Air finished third in Saturday’s Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay.
Triple Crown nominee Fierce Wind ($8.80) captured the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday, giving trainer Nick Zito another Kentucky Derby hopeful. Story
Pyro dominated his 3-year-old peers with a swift quarter-mile move.
Pyro’s timely explosion in Saturday’s Risen Star S., a Kentucky Derby prep race at Fair Grounds, was a memorable performance like Smarty Jones’s ‘04 Arkansas Derby or Street Sense’s ‘07 Tampa Bay Derby. Jeremy Plonk | Watch
Hip No. 1, a filly by Silver Deputy consigned by Eisaman Equine, Agent, went to Buzz Chace, Agent for West Point Thoroughbreds and John Williams, for $520,000 to top the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s record breaking 2008 February Selected Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training. The dark bay or brown filly, whose eighth in :10 flat at last week’s Preview was the day’s co-fastest, is out of stakes winner Daisy Dukes, by Ghazi, and is a half sister to stakes winner Surplus Singer. more
In a race that was anyone’s to win at the top of the stretch, Zayat Stables’ Halo Najib rallied down the center of the track and drew clear to win the $150,000 Darley OBS Championship Stakes for 3-year-old colts and geldings by 2-3/4 lengths. It was the final race of the 19th annual OBS Day of Champions presented by Darley. Pamela Halter’s Hello From Heaven was second with Gary Capuano and Paul Fowler Jr.’s Ghostly Thunder a length back in third. The time for the mile and a sixteenth over OBS new all-weather Safetrack was 1:46 2/5. Kent Desormeaux, in his first appearance at OBS, rode the winner for trainer Dale Romans. more
Vicino Racing Stables, Inc.’s Dynhocracy, winner of the Arthur I. Appleton Juvenile Turf Stakes at Calder last fall, heads a field of 11 entered for the nineteenth running of the $150,000 Darley OBS Championship Stakes for 3-year-olds. The race is the fifth and last on the card of the 19th annual OBS Day of Champions presented by Darley on Monday, February 11th at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s racetrack. The races, the first being run over OBS’ new all-weather Safetrack surface, are held as non-wagering exhibitions and will be streamed live via the OBS website at obssales.com. Post time for the first race is 1:30 p.m. more
Hip No. 61, a filly by Cuvee consigned by McKathan Farms, Agent, blazed an eighth in :9 4/5 over the new all-weather Safetrack surfce to post the fastest work of the sale at the distance at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s Under Tack Show for the 2008 February Sale of Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training. The bay filly, who worked an eighth in :10 2/5 at last Sunday’s Preview despite hitting the rail, is out of Miss Awesome, by Awesome Again, a daughter of stakes winner Tanja. more
NTRA