Hodgepodge War of Will, Serengetti, Santa Anita
Mar 24, 2019 17:56:04 GMT -5
Post by eye123 on Mar 24, 2019 17:56:04 GMT -5
1)War of Will:
Trainer Mark Casse on Sunday morning described War of Will as "much improved" after the Louisiana Derby (G2) favorite buckled a few strides from the gate in the major 2019 Kentucky Derby prep, going on to finish ninth at Fair Grounds.
The nature of the injury is believed to be a strain of the patellar ligament, part of stifle in War of Will's left-hind leg.
"We're fairly confident that with some treatment and exercise, he'll be back 100 percent," Casse said.
War of Will ships to Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday or Wednesday from his winter base in New Orleans, where the meet is ending.
By War Front, the Gary Barber-owned colt won Fair Grounds' Lecomte (G3) and Risen Star (G2) to open his 3-year-old season and qualify on points for the Kentucky Derby regardless of his Louisiana Derby finish.
In this case, the Louisiana Derby's status as the first major final prep on the calendar serves as a benefit to connections.
"I'm glad we have the six weeks," Casse said. "He's just a super horse to be around, and it helps that you can kind of train him whichever way you need to train him. If all goes well, you'll see him have a pretty aggressive training program."
Grade 1-placed on the turf, War of Will entered the Louisiana Derby 3-for-3 on the dirt. Casse will be looking to improve upon his best-ever Kentucky Derby finish of fourth in 2017 with the champion 2-year-old Classic Empire.
2)Serengetti Empress :
Trainer Tom Amoss said Sunday that Serengeti Empress is “fine this morning” after the filly bled in her breathing passages when fading to last in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2). While the daughter of Alternation will travel with Amoss’ string to Churchill Downs, her status moving forward to the Kentucky Oaks hasn’t been determined.
“We’re thinking about, what’s the best solution to get a horse that’s never bled over an episode where she actually bled through Lasix?” Amoss said. “That’s what we’re focusing on, not what the next race would be.
“At this point, it’s one day after it happened, and we’re not ready to make any decisions like that.”
Campaigned by Joel Politi, Serengeti Empress has flashed brilliance on the front end of a number of her races, winning the Ellis Park Debutante by 13 1/2 lengths and Churchill’s Pocahontas (G2) by 19 1/2. Back at 3, her season opened with a geared-down 4 1/2-length score in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds leading into Saturday’s final prep.
Serengeti Empress settled into an ideal trip in the Fair Grounds Oaks, breaking like a shot to lead through opening comfortable fractions of 24.12 seconds for the quarter mile and 47.48 for the half. She began to fade inside the five-sixteenths and was stopped by jockey James Graham.
Amoss said it could be two weeks or more before next steps are plotted for the filly.
3)Santa Anita :
With California Horse Racing Board approval expected Thursday, Santa Anita Park will reopen for live racing on Friday with the Grade 2, $200,000 San Luis Rey Stakes headlining proceedings. First post time will be 1 p.m. PT.
Santa Anita, which has been closed for live racing since March 3, has also issued a revised stakes schedule, with eight stakes, six of them graded, relocated on what will be a busy racing calendar.
As part of the revised schedule, the 82nd running of the Grade 1, $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap, which was originally scheduled for March 9, will now be run Saturday, April 6. With the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby leading the way April 6, Santa Anita will also offer a third Grade 1 stakes, the $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks.
Also on Santa Anita Derby Day, the Grade 2, $200,000 Royal Heroine and the Grade 3, $150,000 Providencia will be complemented by two additional stakes, the $200,000 Evening Jewel and the Echo Eddie, making for a total of seven added-money events on a blockbuster afternoon.
Along with the Santa Anita Handicap, two other graded stakes originally scheduled for Big ’Cap Day have been rescheduled and will now be included in a total of six graded stakes to be run on Saturday, March 30: the Grade 1, $400,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on turf and the Grade 2, $200,000 San Carlos will also be joined by the Grade 1, $400,000 Beholder Mile (originally scheduled for March 16), the Grade 3, $100,000 San Simeon (originally scheduled for March 16), and the Grade 3, $100,000 Santa Ana Stakes.
Horsemen have also been advised that the following stakes, which were also originally scheduled to be run during Santa Anita’s period of inactivity, have been rescheduled. The $100,000 Irish O’Brien has been moved to March 31, as has the $100,000 Sensational Star and the $75,000 Santana Mile.
I know they proposed such with other changes.Have they been approved by CHRB 
and horsemen?
