This week at Golden Gate Fields
Schedule: Thursday through Sunday Post time: 12:45 p.m.
Feature simulcast races: Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park; Grade 1, $1 million Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds — both Saturday
Update: Trainer Cliff Delima is serving a 20-day suspension through April 15 for possession of a banned medication in a July 14 incident that he calls an honest mistake. “I had a horse with colic at my ranch, and the groom and I put the medicine in the back of my truck and forgot to take it out when we went to my barn (at the Alameda County Fair),” Delima said. A California Horse Racing Board agent found the medication during a random search. “The next day they took blood on the horses I had at Pleasanton, and they were all clean,” Delima said. “They had a hearing and gave me 30 days, 10 days suspended. I don’t think that’s right.” According to records from the American Jockey Club and the racing board, Delima hadn’t had a medication violation since 2009. Delima’s longtime assistant, Roy Guinnane, is training most of the stable’s horses during the suspension. But horses owned by Delima’s wife, Barbara, aren’t allowed to race. “That’s how we make a living,” the 86-year-old Delima said. … John F. Martin, who leads the trainer standings with 28 winners, has been fined $1,000 for having more than one permitted medication in the test result of Norm’s Place, who won the third race Feb. 10. … Jerry Hollendorfer is second in the standings with 26 winners, followed by Bill Delia (23), Blaine Wright (22) and Frank Lucarelli (20). … Irving Orozco and Abel Cedillo are tied for the jockey lead with 47 winners apiece, followed by William Antongeorgi III (41), Frank Alvarado (38) and Julien Couton and Silvio Amador (32 each). … Anythingscookin, who has won three straight starts, six of his past seven and eight of his past 10, runs in Saturday’s sixth race. The 11⁄16-mile optional claimer also drew Broken Up, who has won four straight.
Elsewhere: Unique Bella, Hollendorfer’s 3-year-old filly star with four straight dominant wins, has been sidelined with a shin injury. Thus, she will miss the Santa Anita Oaks on April 8 and the Kentucky Oaks on May 5 — races she would have been heavily favored to win. Hollendorfer’s Songbird would have been the favorite in the 2016 Kentucky Oaks, but missed it because of a virus. … Fountain of Youth Stakes winner Gunnevera is the 9-5 morning-line favorite for the Florida Derby despite drawing the outside No. 11 post. He will start from the No. 10 post if trainer Todd Pletcher scratches Battalion Runner as expected and runs just Always Dreaming. Only four of 75 horses from the No. 10 post have won 11⁄8-mile races in Gulfstream Park’s current configuration. … Risen Star stakes winner Girvin is the 8-5 favorite for the Louisiana Derby, whose field of nine includes recent maiden winners Patch and Monaco for Pletcher. … The final Kentucky Derby Future Wager runs Thursday through Sunday. … My Kentucky Derby top 10: Gunnevera, McCraken, One Liner, Tapwrit, Girvin, J Boys Echo, Thunder Snow, Iliad, Private Joke, El Areeb. … Trainer Art Sherman runs Dortmund in the $75,000-added Santana Mile on Saturday at Santa Anita.