Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Red Ruby injured, will miss Alabama
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Red Ruby, the emphatic winner of the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks last month, will miss the Grade 1 Alabama and potentially the remainder of her 3-yearold season due to a splint-bone injury, trainer Kellyn Gorder said Wednesday.
Gorder said Red Ruby may have a hairline fracture of a splint bone in a front leg and is getting stall rest at Keeneland, where she is based.
“We’re pretty positive that’s what it is, but we need to X-ray it again,” Gorder said. “She’s just getting stall rest to keep [the leg] as quiet as we can.”
Red Ruby missed some time this year when she sustained cuts to a leg in a freak barn accident at Oaklawn. Though she missed the Kentucky Oaks, she came back with a 4 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 BlackEyed Susan at Pimlico in May and a 13-length gallop in the Delaware Oaks. Gorder was planning to start her in the Alabama on Aug. 18.
Gorder said the splint-bone issue only developed within the last week. If it is a fracture, she would likely not return to the races until next year.
“She can come back 100 percent, better than what she was,” Gorder said. “I can see her filling out and becoming an awesome 4-year-old.”
Red Ruby, a daughter of Tiznow owned by Sandra Sexton and Brandi Nicholson, has won 4 of 6 starts.
Divisidero in Fourstardave
Divisidero, who on Tuesday was entered for Saturday’s Grade 1 Arlington Million, will be rerouted to Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga, according to owner Tom Keithley.
Divisidero is winless at the Million distance of 1 1/4 miles – including a seventh-place finish in last year’s Million – and at the one-mile distance of the Fourstardave. Divisidero has been beaten two to three lengths in virtually all of his starts at 1 1/4 miles and at a mile. He did win the Grade 3 Arlington Handicap, the Arlington Million prep, at 1 3/16 miles on July 7. Divisidero is a multiple Grade 1 winner at 1 1/8 miles.
“We just weren’t sure what the track up at Saratoga would be like,” Keithley said by phone Wednesday. “We don’t think he wants a super-soft track. We think he’s a little bit quicker as far as how he’s run his races, and the mile was always our first preference.”
There were 11 horses entered for the Million. Only six were entered in the Fourstardave.
Divisidero, trained by Kelly Rubley, will be ridden by Jevian Toledo and will carry 119 pounds. He will face Heart to Heart (Julien Leparoux, 124 pounds), Yoshida (Manny Franco, 122), Delta Prince (Javier Castellano, 118), Voodoo Song (118), and Made You Look (Luis Saez, 115).
Also on Saturday’s card is the $100,000 Lure Stakes, at 1 1/16 miles, which was rescheduled after being postponed last Saturday due to heavy rain that made the turf course beyond soft.
The race underwent some modifications from when it was first drawn. Most notably, Projected, the runner-up to Voodoo Song in the Forbidden Apple last out, was supplemented to the race by trainer Chad Brown. Projected finished second in this race last year.
Projected takes the place of Ticonderoga, who was rerouted from the Lure to an allowance on Thursday.
Trainer Bill Mott also made a switch, electing to enter Forge in place of Ballagh Rocks, who Mott didn’t feel worked well on Monday.
Those entered back in the Lure were Mr. Cub, Conquest Panthera, Dalarna, Zennor, Inspector Lynley, and Blacktype. Camelot Kitten was not entered back.
Half a dozen in Adirondack
Six 2-year-old fillies who all won their only start were entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga.
Lyrical Lady, one of five 2-year-old winners sent out at the meet by trainer Steve Asmussen, looks like the probable favorite. Trainer Todd Pletcher entered both Virginia Eloise, who won at Belmont on July 4, and Guacamole, who was placed first when the stewards disqualified Super Simple – also trained by Asmussen – here on July 26.
Mucho Amor, Sue’s Fortune, and Grandma Gertie complete the sextet.
Bravazo lollygags it in work
Bravazo, the runner-up in the Preakness and the Haskell Invitational last out, worked a half-mile in 51.23 seconds on Wednesday over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 25.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said the work was “too slow” and blamed himself for overcoaching the exercise rider.
“Too slow is easy to fix; too fast is harder to fix,” Lukas said. “I can come back in less than a week and work him again. I have time for two more works.”
Bravazo continues to impress Lukas with how he is doing physically despite having run in all three Triple Crown races and the Haskell.
“His weight is excellent,” Lukas said. “He’s put on weight through some very intense training. He grazes twice a day and gets a lot of pampering. He’s on the same program as Will Take Charge, who got pretty good in the fall.”
Will Take Charge in 2013 ran in all three Triple Crown races, finished second in the Jim Dandy, won the Travers and the Pennsylvania Derby, then lost by a nose to Mucho Macho Man in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
◗ Two-time Triple Crownwinning trainer Bob Baffert, already enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, will now be honored as a member of Saratoga’s Walk of Fame.
The Saratoga Walk of Fame honors those who have made significant contributions to Thoroughbred racing and the advancement of Saratoga Race Course. Baffert will be honored at a ceremony held here on Aug. 24. Baffert is expected to be on hand as he is pointing champion Abel Tasman to the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 25.