Palace Unlikely to Run Back at Saratoga
Antonino Miuccio's multiple Grade 1 winner Palace is unlikely to run back at Saratoga this summer, trainer Linda Rice said Saturday morning.
Making his first start against New York-breds in 18 months in Thursday's $100,000 John Morrissey, 6-year-old Palace suffered a deep gash in his left front foot after breaking awkwardly from the gate.
"He grabbed a quarter pretty bad and it's going to take a while to get him healed up," Rice said. "He fell out of the gate and took a big chunk out of his left front. It was pretty bad. A big pool of blood was around him and it was pretty bad the next day. He'll be OK; it's just going to take some time. I don't think that we'll be running him back at Saratoga."
Rice was hoping to use the Morrissey as a prep for the Grade 1, $700,000 Forego on August 29, a race Palace won last summer. The Morrissey was just his second start of 2015, after finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap April 4 at Aqueduct.
Saratoga's leading trainer in 2013, Rice said Palace received a tetanus shot and is being treated with antibiotics. He remains at the trainer's barn in Saratoga.
"There's actually a large piece of tissue that's going to have to be cut off. It's kind of an ugly mess, but he'll be OK. He'll recover," she said. "He's a good patient. He's terrific to be around. My gut feeling is we won't make another race at Saratoga and we'll hopefully have him healed up for Belmont."
Palace chased the field into the stretch, moving up to second at the head of the lane before being passed late by John's Island. He was beaten two lengths by winner Moonlight Song, who is now six-for-seven on an off track.
"Palace hasn't run his best races in the mud. I was really disappointed when it started pouring, especially with a horse in there that was five-for-six in the mud," Rice said. "He tries on any surface, but the mud really hasn't been his favorite. I think he lost two lengths at the break and got beat two lengths. What can you do? That's racing."
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Trainer Todd Pletcher, who saddled three winners on yesterday's card upping his tally to 11 as leading trainer through the first seven days of the meet, kept busy this morning overseeing workouts from Coach Inge,Angela Renee and Liam's Map over the main track.
Liam's Map, working up to the Grade 1, $1.25 Whitney on August 8, hit the main track this morning, was clocked in a brisk 58.42 seconds for five furlongs.
"He went a little faster than I ideally wanted, but he looked impressive doing it," said Pletcher. "Hopefully, it didn't take too much out of him."
Still undecided as to which race he will point to next after finishing third in the Grade 2, 1 ¼-mile Suburban at Belmont Park on July 4, Coach Inge worked four furlongs in 50.20 seconds. Winner of the Grade 2, 1 ½-mile Brooklyn Invitational, Coach Inge has been nominated to the Whitney.
"It was a good steady half," said Pletcher. "He's a very fit horse coming out of 1 ½ mile and 1 ¼ mile races. We're happy with him. He seems to moving well and he's in good form."
Angela Renee, pointed for a start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test, one of five stakes races as part of the Fasig-Tipton Festival of Racing on August 8, worked a half-mile in 48.25, the 16th fastest of 63.
"She's been very sharp," said Pletcher. "We're looking forward to backing her up to seven-eighths and seeing how she handles that, but we're happy with the way she's training."
Daredevil, last year's Grade 1 Champagne winner, breezed over the Oklahoma turf course in preparation for his planned grass debut in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on August 7. The More Than Ready colt covered four furlongs in a bullet 47.98 seconds, the fastest of 28 at the distance.
Yesterday's performances included an impressive win second time out from Tennessee. Pletcher was pleased with the 3-year-old colt and said he would most likely make his next start in an allowance race. Pletcher also reported that Stanford returned in good shape out of yesterday's Curlin Stakes in which he flattened in the stretch to finish fifth as the post-time favorite.
"We were happy with that effort," Pletcher said of Tennessee's 1 ¾-length maiden-breaking score. "He broke well and seemed to put himself in a good spot. I thought it was a good performance. We've had high expectations from him from the beginning and it's nice to see him get on track and build from here. Stanford seemed to be in good order today."
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Already a four-time stakes winner at three different racetracks this year, Ranlo Investments LLC's Lady Shipman sets her sights on Saratoga Race Course forMonday's $100,000 Coronation Cup.
The 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies will be the first Spa start for Lady Shipman, a winner of six of eight lifetime races and $218,000 in purse earnings. She is the 4-5 program favorite in a field of 10.
"She's going into the race just as well or better than any other race she's come up to, so that's very comforting," trainer Kathleen O'Connell said. "She's really grown up and matured. She went from the gawky kid stage to the young lady stage. She's certainly a special filly to be around."
Bred in Kentucky, Lady Shipman made the first four starts of her career in south Florida, winning the OBS Sprint Stakes January 27 at the Ocala Training Center. Given a short break, she returned with a five-length victory in the Stormy Blues Stakes April 18 at Pimlico Race Course for her fourth straight victory.
Third in the Wait a While Stakes May 16 at Belmont Park, Lady Shipman has strung together back-to-back front-running wins in the Crank It Up Stakes June 6and Klassy Briefcase Stakes July 12, both at Monmouth Park, and each at the Coronation Cup distance.
Her most recent effort also came in her debut against older horses, resulting in a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 104. The number dwarfs her Coronation Cup rivals, 15 points better than her closest rival, stakes-placed Super Saks.
"She's been doing super good. You always worry when you're coming up against older horses for the first time," O'Connell said. "I try to stay away from them as much as I can. I knew she'd run big and I knew we'd have to have a very good trip from the post we drew, but she really stepped up to the plate."
Primarily based in Florida, O'Connell has won more than 1,700 races since 1981 including graded stakes with Blazing Sword, Ivanavinalot, Fly by Phil and Watch Me Go, who brought the 63-year-old Michigan native to the 2011 Kentucky Derby. She continues to be impressed by Lady Shipman.
"She's a pretty exciting filly, let me tell you. She loves her job," O'Connell said. "She's a trainer's dream, that's all I can say. She's the complete package. She's got the ability, she's got the body, she's got the brains. It's just hard to get everything together like that."
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Looking to defend his title in the Whitney, Moreno worked six furlongs in a snappy 1:11.20 at Los Alamitos on Friday morning in preparation for the August 8 race. The 5-year-old gelding has one win from five starts in 2015, beating Shared Belief in the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic on April 18, and is coming off an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita.
On Friday, Todd Pletcher saddled his longest priced winner since Capo Bastone (28-1) upset the 2013 edition of the Grade 1 King's Bishop when Gangster blitzed a talented field of maidens at 21-1. Since winning four races through the first four days of the meet, including two stakes via disqualification, Pletcher has won seven races over the past three days. He leads all trainers with 11 wins at the stand, with Hall of Famer Bill Mott in second with six wins.
Jockey Manny Franco's agent, Hall of Famer Angel Cordero, Jr., reported Franco will return to riding on Wednesday, one week after escaping serious injury in a spill in the fifth race. Franco had two wins from 20 mounts at the Spa before going down. According to Cordero, Franco suffered a minor cut on his left calf and knee and bruising on the right side of his body, a near-miraculous result considering the severity of the spill. "It only takes one horse to hurt you," said Cordero, "and he had five go over him."
Source: NYRA Communications