January 5 (UPI) — Winter continued to wreak havoc on Southern California’s racing schedule over the weekend, but luckily the weather was better elsewhere, including at two potentially iconic Kentucky Derby prep venues.
As rain continues to rain across Southern California, Santa Anita has issued a series of postponement announcements. Pushing back the traditional Dec. 26 opening day by two days worked well.
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But it quickly became obsolete as Wednesday and Thursday cards were postponed, and then Saturday too. Track and field officials halted the day’s racing Sunday morning. Makeup cards start on Thursday.
Elsewhere, cold but dry weather allowed fans to ring in the New Year. And, the Eclipse Award finalists are at the end of this roundup.
road to rose
Quddwah won the Group 2 Zabeel Mile at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on Friday; a candidate for the Dubai Racecourse on World Cup night. Photo courtesy of Dubai Racing Club
Minecraft and Strategic Risk move into the Road to the Kentucky Derby rankings with weekend wins.
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Minecraft circled three of his opponents and went home in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, catching favorite Balboa close to the 16th and heading home by 2 yards.
Balboa finished second, while Enforced and Freedom’s Echo finished the race.
My World, an Essential Quality colt, ran the mile in 1:38.96 on the fast track under Jaime Rodriguez for his third consecutive victory, all at the New York track.
“He’s really improving, especially mentally,” Cox assistant Dustin Dugas said of Minecraft.
The weekend’s other Derby Road event, Saturday’s $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park, was won by Strategic Risk, a Florida-bred Noble Bird colt.
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With Javier Castellano in the lead, Strategic Risk parked behind a long-shot leader, took the lead coming out of the corner and held on to win over Silent Tactic by 4 1/2 in the final seconds.
Strategy Risk built on his previous victory in the Florida Sire Stakes Reality division with a quick win in 1:45.06.
Strategic Risk and Silent Strategy is owned by John Oxley and trained by Mark Casse. Cass said Strategic Risk will “probably” start in the $1 million Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Jan. 31, while he may seek an allowance berth for Silent Witness to bolster his confidence.
“He’s not leaving. He’s here to stay,” Kass said of the strategic risks. “We love Oaklawn [3-year-old] series. “
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Minecraft and Strategic Risk each earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby rankings, tied with six other franchises for positions seventh through 14th.
There’s also the Triple Crown weekend track…
Commandment is the odds-on favorite to win the $175,000 Mucho Macho Man Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Into Mischief, a colt trained by Brad Cox for Wathnan Racing, defeated long shot Roger That Dana by 6 3/4 lengths.
Obliteration, a Violence colt trained by Steve Asmussen, overcame a hurdle in Saturday’s $150,000 Renaissance at Oaklawn Park to win the six-furlong sprint by 7 1/2.
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The colt’s career got off to an interesting start, winning the Grade 3 Sanford in his second start at Saratoga and earning honors on the turf, including a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Hometown Bound was a popular choice from five races, winning by 1 1/4 lengths over 6 1/2 furlongs on Saturday’s $125,000 Turfway Prevue all-weather course.
Mor Force won the $100,000 Louisiana Futurity at Fair Grounds on Saturday by 6 1/2 lengths.
On the lawn:
Alpyland won the $175,000 Dania Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Thursday, beating the leading favorite Honey Dutch by 1 1/2. Alpyland, a Vekoma colt trained by Mark Casse, has won three straight.
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Finally, in Dubai:
Six Speed, a Not This Time colt, performed well in Friday’s UAE 2000 Guineas Trials, leading the stage and winning by 3 1/4 lengths.
“For a horse that went from six to seven furlongs, he was pretty strong at the finish,” said winning jockey William Buick. “He is a worthy candidate [Group 3 UAE] Two thousand guineas. “
The Guineas is the stepping stone to the Group 2 Emirates Derby, the de facto win-and-go race for the Kentucky Derby. Friday’s trials were sponsored by Churchill Downs, and 12 of the 16 competitors, including Six Speed, were American-born. His coach, Bhupat Seemar, now a commander in Dubai, had been Bob Baffert’s assistant.
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road to oak tree
Haute Diva, last in six races, narrowly beat Nycon and then narrowly defeated front-runner and even favorite Secane in Thursday’s $175,000 Cash Run Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Constitution mare currently sits sixth in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland with two wins and four seconds to her name.
Dazzling Dame won the $150,000 Busanda at Aqueduct on Saturday by 11 1/2 lengths over Two Bits.
Dazzling Dame, a Gervan mare, ran the mile in 1 minute 38.30 seconds on the fast lane, taking three wins from four starts and finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs.
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Additionally, Sister Troienne won Saturday’s $150,000 Ginger Brew Stakes at Gulfstream Park Turf; Grace Is Free won the $150,000, 6-furlong Mockingbird at Oaklawn Park on Sunday; and Little Miss Curlin was 4 3/4 in Saturday’s Louisiana Futurity at Fair Grounds. ’s win, an undefeated record, against a state-bred mare, carried a $100,000 purse.
Travel around the world, all day long
Dubai
El Naseeb confirmed his status as one of the top local sprinters during Friday night’s Dubai World Cup Carnival program, while Quddwah impressed in the turf mile rankings. Watch out for World Cup night.
El Naseeb, a 5-year-old son of Profitable, finished well behind 2025 Dubai Sands winner Dark Saffron in his early performances to win the Group 3 Dubai Stakes by three lengths over the Chilean stallion Mufasa. The Golden Shaheen in Group 1 this year may be coming soon.
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Kingman’s six-year-old son Quddwah chased Audience deep in the Group 2 Zabeel Mile (G2T) and won by 1 1/4 lengths, opening the way to a potential entry on the Group 1 Dubai turf on World Cup night.
Saudi Arabia
The only disappointment in the entry list for February’s $20 million Grade One Saudi Cup is the absence of Romantic Warriors. The Hong Kong horse, who finished second behind Japan’s Forever Young in a dramatic race last year, will stay on home soil this year while Forever Young prepares to race again.
But there’s no shortage of talent among the players competing in the Cup. Among them, Baffert has entered nearly every eligible horse in his stable.
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From the first race of the day through to the cup, the rest of the field was equally impressive. Please see https://issuu.com/equestrian-jcsa/docs/the_saudi_cup_2026_-_nominations?fr=sMzczYzg5OTkzMjE&dm_i=7OW9,2FNDM,1YGYFN,4ZNLQ,1
Eclipse Award
Now, these Eclipse Award finalists (not necessarily in order of preference) will be announced as Horse of the Year on January 22 at a ceremony at The Breakers in Florida (my first place vote is in parentheses):
Two-Year-Old Males: Brandt, Gstaad (UK), Ted Noffey
Two-Year-Old Mares: Cy Fair, Explora, Super Corredora (Super Corredora)
Three-year-old boy: Baeza, news, sovereignty (sovereignty)
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Three-Year-Old Mares: Good Cheer, Nitrogen, Shisospicy (Nitrogen)
Older Dirt Male: Forever Young (JPN), Nissos, Sierra Leone (Nissos – tough vote!)
Older clay women: Scylla, Splendora, Thorpedo Anna
Men’s sprinters: Bentornato, Book’em Danno, Nysos (Bookem’danno)
Female sprinters: Kopion, Shisospicy, Splendora (Spandora)
Male Turf Horse: Certainty, Noteworthy Speech (GB), Rebel Romance (IRE) (Rebel Romance)
Female turf horses: Gezora (France), She Feels Pretty, Shisospicy (Shisospicy)
Steeplechase: Cool Jet (IRE), Swore, Zanahiyr (IRE) (Cool Jet)
Owners: Godolphin LLC, Klaravich Stables, Inc., Spendthrift Farm LLC (Godolphin)
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Breeders: Don Alberto Corporation, Godolphin LLC, WinStar Farm, LLC (Godolphin)
Coaches: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Bill Mott (Chad Brown)
Jockeys: Irad Oritz Jr., Flavien Prat, John Velasquez
Apprentice jockeys: Christopher Elliott, Izzit Hazlewood, Pietro Moran (abstained)
I think the jockeys should decide the winner of the apprentice jockey category. Virtually all of these categories are voted on by members of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and Daily Racing Table staff.