Get Her Number’s connections keeping their options open

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The connections of Grade 1 winner Get Her Number will be keeping close tabs on Kentucky Derby developments leading up to the May 1 classic at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Peter Miller said Tuesday that the race is on the horse’s radar after his troubled fourth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby last Saturday. Get Her Number earned 10 points to bring his total to 20, and sat 24th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard on Tuesday.

The horse is now back home in Southern California, where last year he won the Grade 1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita. Miller and owner Gary Barber are determining the next move with Get Her Number.

“We’re thinking we’ve got a few different options,” Miller said. “We think we could get into the [Kentucky] Derby, because it looks like there’s going to be some horses that are skipping and are going to go straight to the Preakness. And so, that’s a possibility. The Derby is a possibility. We also are considering going straight to the Preakness, or Peter Pan-Belmont. We’ve got a few options.”

The Peter Pan on May 8 at Belmont is a stepping-stone to the Belmont Stakes.

Get Her Number experienced a world of trouble early in the Arkansas Derby. He put in a determined stretch run and was beaten just three lengths.

“He got eliminated in the first turn,” Miller said. “I feel like he for sure would have been second, maybe could have won it. He lost about four or five lengths in trouble. He checked, took up, then ducked out. A dirt clod hit him – we had to treat his eye. So, I was really proud of his effort.”

Six entered for Apple Blossom

The champions Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver were among six fillies and mares entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn. The race will share a Saturday card with the Grade 2, $1 million Oaklawn Handicap, which drew eight horses, including Santa Anita Handicap runner-up Express Train.

Swiss Skydiver drew post 2 and will be ridden by Robby Albarado, while Monomoy Girl will start from post 6 under Florent Geroux. The race is slotted as the 11th of 12.

The complete field from the rail is Another Broad, Swiss Skydiver, Letruska, Chance to Shine, Getridofwhatailesu, and Monomoy Girl.

The Oaklawn Handicap from the rail is: Silver State, Express Train, Fearless, Warrior’s Charge, Guest Suite, Owendale, Rated R Superstar, and Silver Prospector.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride both Letruska and Fearless. The card includes an allowance sprint that drew millionaire Welder.

Handle up 20 percent at Delta

Chu Chu’s Legacy and Flash of Mischief were among the most impressive young winners at the Delta Downs meet, which closes Friday, and the pair will face each other on the final card of the season. They meet in the allowance feature, worth $50,000.

The seven-furlong race, which will be run around two turns, is restricted to 3-yearolds who have started at the meet, excluding stakes. It goes as the ninth of 11 races closing out a strong meet at Delta.

The track had handled an average $1,737,251 per day on its races from all sources through Tuesday, a figure running 20 percent higher than last meet. Delta opened Nov. 24, about six weeks later than usual after its facility was damaged by a hurricane. Last season, the track ran from Oct. 8 to Feb. 29.

“The meet is going extremely well,” said Chris Warren, director of racing for Delta. “After the misfortune of the hurricane and bad weather, to come through it and have a very successful meet, we’re very happy.”

A winter freeze cost Delta four dates in February. The hurricane left the racetrack lighting system badly damaged, so the current meet has been run during the day rather than at night. Warren said the new track lighting system is scheduled to be in place by Oct. 1, just in time for the return of live Thoroughbred racing on Oct. 20.

Chu Chu’s Legacy is seeking to conquer two turns. The multiple stakes winner comes off an allowance win over five furlongs on March 10 at Delta. He led throughout, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 73 that he earned is the best last-race number in the field. Joe Stokes has the mount for trainer Allen Landry.

Flash of Mischief, who won his maiden by more than six lengths on Nov. 24 at Delta, is back in town for Friday’s race after capturing an allowance sprint at Sam Houston with a Beyer of 72. The meet’s leading jockey, Tim Thornton, has the mount for leading trainer Karl Broberg.

Arapahoe delays start of meet

Arapahoe Park on Tuesday received Colorado Racing Commission approval to conduct a fall meet for 2021. The 32-date season will run from Aug. 11-Oct. 2. There had been an order to delay racing to 2022 in part because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but it was rescinded Tuesday.

Arapahoe, which conducts a mixed meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, generally races from late May to the middle of August. The track will begin receiving horses July 27, an Arapahoe official told the commission Tuesday.

The official also said plans are to have seven races per card, with purses projected to average $71,000 per day. Arapahoe plans to race Wednesday through Saturday with a first post of noon Mountain.

Fonner selects casino partner

Fonner Park has selected Elite Casino Resorts of Iowa as its casino operator, the Grand Island, Neb., track announced. The track is able to have casino gaming after a referendum passed.

The $100 million casino resort project at Fonner will include a 116-room hotel and areas for as many as 850 slot machines, 20 table games, a sports book, and restaurants.

It will be called the Grand Island Casino Resort at Fonner Park.

Louisiana Downs opens May 1

A year after the ongoing pandemic delayed the traditional start date of the Louisiana Downs meet, the track announced Monday that this season will open as scheduled May 1. The 84-date meet extends to Sept. 22.

The Super Derby, which was canceled last year, will not be run in 2021, according to a press release. The track will release its stakes schedule at a later date. Louisiana Downs will race on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with the first post time at 2:45 p.m. Central.