Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Smith to ride Forever Unbridled
Mike Smith will ride Forever Unbridled in the Dubai World Cup, trainer Dallas Stewart said Monday.
The mount on Forever Unbridled was open because John Velazquez, who rode the mare to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, her most recent race, has important mounts at Gulfstream Park, including Audible in the Florida Derby, on the same day as the Dubai World Cup, March 31.
Velazquez had been a late replacement for Joel Rosario in the BC Distaff, and owner Charles Fipke paid a double jockey fee in order to make the change for that race. Rosario had ridden Forever Unbridled six races in a row and had won on her in her two starts before the Breeders’ Cup.
Smith has ridden Forever Unbridled once, the pair finishing 11th in the 2015 Kentucky Oaks. Smith won his first Dubai World Cup last year aboard Arrogate.
Forever Unbridled is scheduled for her final work at Fair Grounds this Friday before departing for Dubai by way of Florida early next week.
Reride heading to UAE Derby
The 3-year-old colt Reride finished sixth in his only graded stakes start, the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last fall, and at the moment doesn’t look like an elite Kentucky Derby contender. But his connections believe he’ll suit another derby, the $2 million UAE Derby, on March 31 at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
Steve Asmussen, who trains Reride for Winchell Thoroughbreds, said Saturday he planned on shipping Reride to Dubai for his next start. Reride traveled to Sunland Park in New Mexico from Fair Grounds in New Orleans to win his most recent race, the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby on Feb. 25.
“He ran a very fast race at Sunland,” Asmussen said. “The timing of this race suits him, and he travels well.”
Reride won the Mine That Bird Derby by 2 1/2 lengths over the favored Runaway Ghost, who finished more than 15 lengths clear of the third-place horse. Reride got a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure for that performance, which came six weeks after a narrow win in the $60,000 Big Drama Stakes at Delta Downs. Reride, a Winchell homebred by Candy Ride, won his debut last June in a short sprint at Churchill Downs and returned to action in October with a turf-mile win at Keeneland before getting a challenging trip between horses and fading late in the Kentucky Jockey Club, his final start at age 2.
Reride worked Sunday at Fair Grounds and will have one final drill there next week before departing for Florida on March 19 and going on to Dubai the following day. Asmussen said Javier Castellano had been secured as a rider for the UAE Derby.
Telekinesis on to Lexington
The talented Ontario-bred 3-year-old colt Telekinesis finished third Friday night while racing against older horses in his second start and first try around two turns.
Telekinesis went to the lead under Florent Geroux in the 1 1/16-mile race but was hooked at the half-mile pole by 4-yearold Silver Dust, the pair slugging it out around the turn and into the homestretch. Telekinesis held firm until about the eighth pole, where he began to tire, eventually finishing third, beaten 1 3/4 lengths. He got an 87 Beyer Speed Figure following a 90 sprinting in his debut victory.
Trainer Mark Casse said Telekinesis remained on track to make his stakes debut April 14 in the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. Telekinesis’s owner, Stonestreet Stables, sponsors the Lexington.
“That’s still the plan,” Casse said Sunday. “That’s why we ran him where we ran him. Like I said before, I’m not a fan of running 3-year-olds against older horses this time of year. I thought he hung in there pretty well. I thought the race served its purpose, and he should improve for it.”
Girvin readying for comeback
Girvin, among the more accomplished 3-year-olds of 2017, posted his first racetrack work of 2018 when he went a half-mile in 49.60 seconds on Saturday at Fair Grounds.
Unraced since finishing fifth Sept. 24 in the Oklahoma Derby, Girvin, who won the $1 million Louisiana Derby and the $1 million Haskell Invitational last year, got in a couple of works at Grand Oaks Farm in Florida before shipping back to trainer Joe Sharp in New Orleans. Rosie Napravnik, Sharp’s wife, worked Girvin on Saturday.
“We were real happy with the work. He was plenty fit for the half and galloped out nice,” Sharp said. “He’s a rested horse coming back. His attitude is better, and he’s filled out a lot and matured. I think we have the same horse as when Girvin was good, if not a better one.”
Sharp said there are no set plans for Girvin’s comeback start, but if all goes well the colt should be ready to race sometime this spring in Kentucky.
Yockey’s Warrior sidelined
Yockey’s Warrior, the best sprinter at Fair Grounds this winter, has missed training with a splint-bone injury and won’t make his intended start April 14 in the $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn, trainer Al Stall said.
“He has an old splint that started to bother him,” said Stall, who also is a part owner of Yockey’s Warrior. “I just shut him down and cooled him out, so he’s going to miss that race. Since we’ve got time on our side, we’re not going to play around.”
Yockey’s Warrior is scheduled to resume training after shipping to Churchill Downs in early April, Stall said. A 6-yearold, Yockey’s Warrior easily won the Thanksgiving Handicap and the Duncan Kenner Stakes in his two starts at the ongoing Fair Grounds meet.
◗ Jockey Corey Lanerie has been suspended by Fair Grounds stewards for four race days starting March 25. Lanerie can ride the Louisiana Derby card on March 24, but that will be his last day in action this Fair Grounds meet. The suspension comes from Lanerie’s ride in the third race Friday, where his mount, Silver Dust, was disqualified from first to second for fouling Mighty Manfred in deep stretch.