Bellafina 2-1 early favorite for Kentucky Oaks for fillies

Associated PressApr 30, 2019, 3:37 PM EDT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bellafina is the 2-1 morning line favorite for the 145th Kentucky Oaks after drawing the No. 4 post position in the marquee race for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs.

Champagne Anyone and Restless Rider are the 6-1 co-second choices from the Nos. 10 and 14 posts of horses officially in the field for Friday’s $1.25 million race over 1 1/8 miles. Dunbar Road, one of two also-eligible fillies, drew 5-1 odds and would become the second choice with an opening in the 14-horse field. Jaywalk and Serengeti Empress are 8-1 co-third choices and will start from the Nos. 7 and 13 posts.

As expected, Bellafina is the favorite thanks to a 3-0 record this year and highlighted by last month’s 5\-length victory in the Santa Anita Oaks. Trained by Simon Callaghan and ridden by Flavien Prat, the filly has six wins and a second-place finish in eight career starts and tops the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 132 points.

Bellafina was traveling from California and is expected to arrive at Churchill Downs on Monday after putting in her final workout at Santa Anita on Sunday. Callaghan is expected at the track on Wednesday.

“She galloped a mile and a half and she looks very good,” the trainer said of Bellafina’s workout. “We’re very pleased with her.”

One of Bellafina’s projected challengers is Champagne Anyone, who is second with 113 points and coming off last month’s win in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks. She also has two third-place finishes in 2019 and has three wins and three thirds in seven career starts.

Trainer Ian Wilkes has been pleased with Champagne Anyone’s workouts at Churchill Downs and was encouraged by her post position.

“It’s better than being stuck down on the inside and can give us a lot of options to see what happens in the race,” Wilkes said. “You know the first eighth of a mile, we can see where we want to be and what’s happening.”

Nine fillies drew double-digit odds including Out for a Spin, one of four 15-1 choices. The winner of this month’s Ashland at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, the Virginia-bred filly will start along the rail, and trainer Dallas Stewart acknowledged that she must avoid getting boxed in with other horses to have a chance.

“She’s not going to be close to the lead with this group like she was at Keeneland,” said Stewart, who will seek his first Oaks win since 2006 with Lemons Forever.

“Hopefully, it’s going to be a tactical race for us. We’ve got a great rider (Irad Ortiz Jr.) that’ll get the job done.”

On the outside of the Oaks looking in is Dunbar Road, who finished a half-length behind Champagne Anyone in the Gulfstream Park Oaks. Also eligible is Point of Honor.

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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.