As Spring arrives in Saratoga Springs, things on the racing front are heating up.
Due to a strained hock, Flightline had to miss his scheduled start in the San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita earlier in March. He is back in training and still being pointed to the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Metropolitan Mile on June 11 at Belmont Park. While missing the race was disappointing, minor setbacks in horse racing occur. John Sadler (Flightline’s trainer) plans to train Flightline up to the Met Mile as opposed to running in a prep race.
Daily Racing Form Article on Flightline
First Captain came out of his February 27 winning effort at Gulfstream Park (Hallandale, FL) in good shape and will shortly ship to his trainer’s (Shug McGaughey) stable at Belmont Park. The plan is to run First Captain in the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap on Saturday, April 9. The Carter is a 7F (7/8th’s of a mile) stakes race on the Wood Memorial Stakes undercard. Eighteen horses have been nominated to the Carter Handicap and entries will be drawn on April 6.
The yearlings we (Woodford Racing and partners) purchased last Fall are all doing well and will begin to ship North any day from the various farms they spent the Winter at in Ocala, FL. There is nothing more exciting than 2 year old colts that could be on next year’s Kentucky Derby Trail. The plan is to let the horses tell us when they are ready to start their racing careers. It is anticipated some will run at Saratoga or Del Mar this Summer or Belmont Park, Churchill Downs, Keeneland or Santa Anita in the Fall. Many of the 2 year old’s have been named and the names will be shared in a future post.
Lastly, the 3 year old filly we (Repole Stable, Woodford Racing) own will start her racing career on Saturday, April 2 at Gulfstream Park (Hallandale, FL). Her name is Inventing and she is trained by Todd Pletcher. She’s number 2 in the 8th race with a post time of 3:01 PM (EST).