Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Stevens ends 5-month road trip
ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens is in the midst of a road trip this weekend.
Stevens, 55, has spent the last several months riding primarily in Arkansas and Kentucky, and is returning to his longtime base in California. He and his family planned to spend this weekend driving from Louisville, Ky., to Southern California before Stevens resumes riding at Santa Anita on May 17.
Stevens has not ridden at Santa Anita since Dec. 31.
“I’ve been gone for five months,” Stevens said Thursday morning. “I miss my dogs, I miss friends, and I miss the horse racing. It’s time to come back.”
Through Wednesday, Stevens has won 30 races from 184 mounts this year, with his mounts earning $2.6 million. Stevens spent the early months of the year riding the Oaklawn Park meeting in Arkansas and had two stakes wins there, including the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes on Sassy Sierra, whom he rode to a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 4.
Stevens has ridden mostly in Kentucky in recent weeks.
“I made a lot of new contacts,” he said.
Stevens left California last winter after a quiet 2017 season in which he won 43 races, 10 of which were stakes. His mounts earned $3,147,325 in 2017, a drop from the 2016 season when his mounts earned $5,872,418. Stevens had 15 stakes wins in 2016.
One key difference was the absence of a nationally prominent mount such as Beholder, the champion older female of 2016. Stevens rode Beholder to three stakes wins in 2016, including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita.
“It was a disappointing year for me,” he said of 2017. “With Beholder being retired, it had a trickle-down effect. Things got stagnant. I thought it was a good time for a change.”
Stevens will be represented by agent Tony Matos.
McKinzie back to light training
McKinzie was rated as trainer Bob Baffert’s leading 3-year-old hope earlier this year – until Justify came along.
While Justify is undefeated in four starts after an impressive win in the Kentucky Derby on May 5, McKinzie has returned to light training after being sidelined in late March with an undisclosed ailment that kept him from a start in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7.
Baffert said Thursday that McKinzie is tack-walking at his stable at Santa Anita, with no timetable for a return to racing.
Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, McKinzie has won 3 of 4 starts, including the Grade 1 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity last December. McKinzie finished first in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 10, but was disqualified and placed second for causing interference to runner-up Bolt d’Oro in the final strides.
McKinzie has not started since the San Felipe. Bolt d’Oro was later second to Justify in the Santa Anita Derby and 12th in the Kentucky Derby. Bolt d’Oro is expected to start against Justify in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 19.
Beholder Mile showdown looms
The champion Unique Bella and the multiple Grade 1 winner Paradise Woods are on schedule for their second meeting in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on June 2, their trainers said Thursday.
Unique Bella, the champion female sprinter of 2017, was second after a slow start in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 13. Unique Bella was considered for the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park on June 9, but is unlikely to be sent out of state.
“I think we’re looking toward running here,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.
Paradise Woods won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks and Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes here last year, but is winless in her last three starts, including a third in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar last November and a second to Unique Bella in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes here last December.
In her lone start this year, Paradise Woods faded in the final furlong to finish fourth in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at seven furlongs March 24. Paradise Woods has been working quickly, including six furlongs in 1:12.20 on Tuesday.
“She’s ready to go,” trainer Richard Mandella said.
Selcourt, the winner of the Santa Monica Stakes, is another contender for the $400,000 Beholder Mile.
Itsinthepost works 5 furlongs
Itsinthepost, who won three Grade 2 stakes on turf earlier this year, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20 at Santa Anita on Thursday for an expected start in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf on May 26.
Trained by Jeff Mullins, Itsinthepost was third in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Keeneland on April 21, a race he won in 2017.