Tara’s Tango wins Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita

Associated PressMar 20, 2016, 2:19 PM EDT

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) Tara’s Tango rallied from off the pace to collar 4-5 favorite Taris late and win the $500,000 Santa Margarita Stakes for older fillies and mares by a length Saturday at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Tara’s Tango ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.44 and paid $7.20, $3 and $2.40 as the 5-2 second choice.

Taris returned $2.40 and $2.10, while Living The Life was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third and paid $3 to show.

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer added blinkers for the first time to restrict Tara’s Tango’s vision. It paid off with her first Grade 1 stakes win.

“The blinkers made a big difference today, they helped me a lot from the gate,” Bejarano said. “I waited for the opportunity and when we got to the stretch, she gave me a good turn of foot and I knew I could beat the favorite.”

The victory, worth $300,000, increased Tara’s Tango’s career earnings to $618,004, with four wins in 10 starts.

Smoove It rallied four-wide turning for home and went on to win the $100,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths after surviving a stewards’ inquiry over an incident at the top of the stretch.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Smoove It ran 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in 1:12.83 and paid $14.40, $4 and $2.40 for her first stakes win.

Velvet Mesquite returned $2.40 and $2.10 as the 2-5 favorite. Qiaona rallied from last to finish a half-length back in third and paid $2.10 to show.

Velvet Mesquite was third approaching the quarter pole, but had her momentum stopped when Smoove It ducked in. The stewards ruled that although the winner drifted in, causing Velvet Mesquite to steady, the incident didn’t cost the favorite a chance at a higher placing.

“He (Prat) had sufficient clearance because I gave it to him,” said Kent Desormeaux, aboard the favorite. “If I don’t get out of there, I’m going to clip heels. I don’t know how you could say that he had sufficient clearance because I had to give it to him.”

Trained by Doug O’Neill, Smoove It earned her fifth win in 23 career starts. The victory, worth $60,000, increased her earnings to $338,575.

Prat was substituting for Smoove It’s regular rider Mario Gutierrez.

Forte works out, waits for Belmont Stakes clearance

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 3:14 PM EDT

Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK

NEW YORK — Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the day of the race, worked out in preparation for a possible start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five-eighths of a mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. It was the colt’s second workout since being scratched from the Derby on May 6.

“It seems like he’s maintained his fitness level,” Pletcher said. “It seems like everything is in good order.”

Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the Derby because of a bruised right front foot. In order to be removed from the list, the colt had to work in front of a state veterinarian and give a blood sample afterward, the results of which take five days.

“There’s protocols in place and we had to adhere to those and we’re happy that everything went smoothly,” Pletcher said. “We felt confident the horse was in good order or we wouldn’t have been out there twice in the last six days, but you still want to make sure everything went smoothly and we’re happy everything did go well.”

Pletcher said Kingsbarns, who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. The colt is showing signs of colic, although he is fine, the trainer said.

Another Pletcher-trained horse, Prove Worthy, is under consideration for the Belmont. He also has Tapit Trice, who finished seventh in the Derby, being pointed toward the Belmont.

Judge grants Churchill Downs’ request for summary judgment to dismiss Bob Baffert’s lawsuit

Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 9:36 PM EDT

Abbey Cutrer/USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has granted Churchill Downs’ motion for summary judgment that dismisses Bob Baffert’s claim the track breached due process by suspending the Hall of Fame trainer for two years.

Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert in June 2021 after his now-deceased colt, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test after crossing the finish line first in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The trainer’s request to lift the discipline was denied in February, keeping him out of the Derby for a second consecutive May.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled in a 12-page opinion issued Wednesday that Churchill Downs’ suspension of Baffert did not devalue his Kentucky trainer’s license. It cited his purse winnings exceeding $1 million at Keeneland in Lexington and stated that his argument “amounts to a false analogy that distorts caselaw.”

Jennings denied CDI’s motion to stay discovery as moot.

The decision comes less than a week after Baffert-trained colt National Treasure won the Preakness in his first Triple Crown race in two years. His record eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown came hours after another of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized following an injury at Pimlico.

Churchill Downs said in a statement that it was pleased with the court’s favorable ruling as in Baffert’s other cases.

It added, “While he may choose to file baseless appeals, this completes the seemingly endless, arduous and unnecessary litigation proceedings instigated by Mr. Baffert.”

Baffert’s suspension is scheduled to end on June 2, but the track’s release noted its right to extend it “and will communicate our decision” at its conclusion.