Irap to skip Belmont, target Ohio Derby

ARCADIA, Calif. – Irap, the longshot winner of the Blue Grass Stakes but 18th in the Kentucky Derby last out, will start in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown on June 24 and skip the Belmont Stakes on June 10, trainer Doug O’Neill said in a text message.

The $500,000 Ohio Derby is run at 1 1/8 miles.

Irap was a maiden when he won the Blue Grass, becoming the first winless horse to take the famous Keeneland race. Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, Irap has one win in nine starts and earnings of $772,600.

Earlier this year, Irap was second in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita and the Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland Park and fourth in the Sunland Park Derby.

By Tiznow, Irap did not start in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 20. Irap worked six furlongs in 1:14.40 last Friday at Santa Anita, his second workout since the Kentucky Derby.

Great Lady M. gets boost

The purse of the Great Lady M. Stakes for female sprinters at Los Alamitos on July 8 has been increased from $150,000 to $200,000, allowing the race to be recognized as a Grade 2 event, according to racing secretary Bob Moreno.

Moreno said the increase took place after recent discussions between the Thoroughbred Owners of California and track management. The increase was announced Sunday.

The track’s original stakes schedule issued earlier this year listed the Great Lady M. as a Grade 3 race worth $150,000; Grade 2 stakes must have a minimum purse of $200,000. Moreno said he was recently in contact with the graded stakes committee about the purse enhancement.

Finest City won the 2016 Great Lady M. Stakes when the race was run in April. Finest City later won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita last November.

The Great Lady M. is one of three stakes during the Los Alamitos meeting from July 8-16. The Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby, run for $200,000 at 1 1/8 miles, will be July 15.

Ashleyluvssugar seeks repeat

Ashleyluvssugar will have a familiar race schedule this year after winning the sixth stakes of his career in Sunday’s Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita. Trainer Peter Eurton hopes to run Ashleyluvssugar in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf Aug. 19, a race the gelding won in 2016.

The stakes are much higher than the first-place purse of $150,000. The winner receives a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4. Last year, Ashleyluvssugar was fifth in the BC Turf at Santa Anita, the best finish among the California-based runners.

The desire to run in the BC Turf puts more emphasis on the outcome of the Del Mar Handicap. Entry and starting fees for the BC Turf are $100,000.

“We have to win it to think about going,” Eurton said. “Running in the Breeders’ Cup is kind of crazy. They’re not going to spend to run in it.”

Eurton said there is a chance Ashleyluvssugar could run earlier in the summer, perhaps in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on July 22, even though the distance is shorter than preferred.

“We want to run him sparingly,” Eurton said. “It’s a shorter race, but he’ll try his buns off. We’ll have to play it by ear.”

Owned by Sharon Alesia, Bran Jam Stable, and Joe Ciaglia, Ashleyluvssugar, 6, has won 10 of 22 starts and earned $1,289,004.

Sunday’s race was Ashleyluvssugar’s second win in the Whittingham. The Californiabred gelding prevailed in 2015 as a 1-2 favorite when the race was run at 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Illuminant eyes Del Mar

Illuminant, who won her second stakes of 2017 in the Grade 2 Monrovia on the hillside turf course Saturday, could have two starts at the Del Mar summer meeting.

Trainer Mike McCarthy is considering the 5-year-old Illuminant for two Grade 2 stakes on turf worth $200,000 each – the Yellow Ribbon at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 5 and the John C. Mabee Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 2. Illuminant missed the 2016 Del Mar summer meeting because of back issues.

In the Monrovia Stakes, Illuminant closed from the back of the field to win by a half-length. She won the Wishing Well Stakes on the hillside in March and was seventh in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland in April.

Illuminant was considered for Saturday’s Grade 1 Gamely Stakes, a race she won in 2016, but started in the Monrovia, which was considered an easier race. Lady Eli and Avenge, second and third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf last November, finished first and third in the Gamely.

Illuminant races for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Head of Plains Partners, and SF Bloodstock.

Illuminant is likely to face Goodyearforroses, who finished second in the Gamely, and Avenge in the Yellow Ribbon or Mabee.