Sadler hopes Stellar Wind will be ready for Santa Margarita
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Stellar Wind, champion three-year-old filly of 2015, went back to the track on a rainy Thursday morning for the first time since finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 4.
“We freshened her up but didn’t turn her out,” said John Sadler, who trains the four-year-old Curlin filly for principal owners Kosta and Peter Hronis.
“She’s back and looking great and we’ll see if she makes the Santa Margarita.”
The Santa Margarita is a Grade I stake at 1 1/8 miles for fillies and mares four and up on March 18, offering $400,000 in purse money.
HORSEMEN, HORSES KEEP BUSY, RAIN OR SHINE
“Rainy days and Mondays always get me down,” the late Karen Carpenter would sing so beautifully. Any rainy day affects horsemen, but they soldier on, rain or shine.
There is no training on the main track in wet weather, so horsemen go to Plan B.
“Typically, if the training track is muddy, we just jog, just something to get the horses out of the stall for a while if it’s not pouring down rain,” said 50-year-old trainer Jack Carava, born in Arcadia, site of Santa Anita.
“If the rain is too heavy, we’ll walk the horses under the shed row at the barn and keep them from getting wet. On days like today, when it’s not raining too hard, they can go out and jog and expend a little energy.”
Carava, whose father, Mike trained in the late 1970s and early 1980s, began his training career with current agent Joe Griffin in 1984, later joining Jerry Fanning. Carava has 21 head in training for the Santa Anita Winter Meet.
“We have a pretty diverse barn and I think we’ll be able to run in a lot of different spots,” Carava said. “I have a few young horses, but the jury’s still out on how much ability they have.”
DRESS YOUR VERY BEST ON OPENING DAY MONDAY
On opening day Monday, Santa Anita will host a contest to discover how many of its loyal fans have true enthusiasm for prize-worthy, race-day attire. Males and females 18 and over are eligible and encouraged to partake in this FREE trackside event.
The Grand Prize is a $2,500 Gift Certificate to Mathis Brothers Furniture and entrance to the VIP seating area of the Craft Brew & Cider Trackside event. Nine runners-up will receive a $250 Gift Certificate to Mathis Brothers.
FUND ESTABLISHED FOR TRAINER AFTER BARN FIRE
The National NHBPA Foundation and the HPBA state affiliates are rallying to assist trainer Eric Reed and his wife, owner Kay Reed, after 23 horses in their care were killed in an early morning barn fire in Kentucky Sunday.
The large barn, believed to have been struck by lightning, is one of three at the Reeds. MercuryEquineCenter in Lexington. Another 13 horses were saved by the Reeds’ employees who risked going into the burning barn at the private training facility.
There are several ways horsemen and the public can help.
Donations to the Reeds’ fund through the National HBPA, a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) fund are tax deductible. Contributions can be made online via credit card at https://nationalhbpa.com/donate/. Checks can be made out to the National HBPA Foundation, 870 Corporate Dr., Suite 300, Lexington, Ky.40503-5419.
Donated tack and supplies can be dropped off at Horse Cents or any of three Kentucky HBPA offices: 3729 S. Fourth St., Louisville, 40214, or the backside offices at TurfwayPark in Florence and The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington.
A GoFundMe account has been set up by the Reeds’ close friends Mike Manganello, a steward in Ohio and a Kentucky Derby-winning jockey, and Kitty Manganello, at https://www.gofundme.com/mercury-equine-farm-fire?ssid=844973860&pos=2.
FINISH LINES: Santa Anita will honor the memory of recently deceased jockey Garrett Gomez on opening day, Monday, with a moment of silence at 11:30 a.m. . . . In addition to Santa Anita Wall Calendars and Mathis Brothers Thoroughbred Toy Horses, The Great Race Place will guarantee $1 million in the all-stakes Late Pick 4, which will be comprised of the Grade III San Simeon, the Grade I La Brea, the Grade I Malibu and the Grade II Mathis Brothers Mile . . . Additionally, KMN Racing and owner/broadcaster Jim Rome have helped organize a silent auction on opening day featuring a beautiful color print of 2015 Santa Anita Handicap winner and 2013 Eclipse champion 2-year-old male Shared Belief. All proceeds from the print by John Rowe will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. The PDJF Silent Auction will take place in the East Paddock Gardens throughout the day. . .One had to look twice at Santa Anita’s work tab Wednesday to see if that old stakes-winning turf sprinter, Caracortado, was making a comeback at age 10. Fact is, he’s not. The horse on the tab was an unraced filly, Caracortada (“a” instead of “o” at the end) trained by Mike Machowsky, the conditioner of the retired Caracortado, who, because of persistent hoof issues, is now “enjoying the good life” in Bradbury after last racing in 2014. “We bought her last spring and she acts like a pretty nice filly,” Machowsky said of Caracortada. “We were trying to come up with a name for her and one of the partners said, ‘Why don’t we name her that?’ I didn’t think it would get through (The Jockey Club), to tell you the truth. Freely translated from Spanish it means scar face or cut face.” Caracortada worked five furlongs in 1:03 . . . Santa Anita will be dark Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 27 and 28, and resume live racing Thursday, Dec. 29 at 12:30 p.m.
Source: Santa Anita Park
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