**Click here to see video from yesterday’s post-race press conference with the winning connections of Toby’s Corner from the Grade 1, $1 million Resorts World New York Casino Wood Memorial**
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Contact: NYRA Press Office
(718) 659-2240
NYRA NOTES
- Resorts World New York Casino Wood Memorial winner Toby’s Corner winner back at Fair Hill, on target for Kentucky Derby
- Uncle Mo OK after third-place finish in Wood; will ship to Louisville on April 18 with Kentucky Oaks candidate R Heat Lighting; Rule, Cal Nation work
- Carter winner Morning Line exits Grade 1 win in good order; Met Mile next
- Woody Stephens long-term goal for Bay Shore winner J J’s Lucky Train
- Trainer Fawkes plots
- Next Saturday’s Distaff Handicap field taking shape
With Spiral Stakes winner Animal Kingdom, trainer Graham Motion now has two strong prospects for the May 7 Kentucky Derby.
“I wasn’t expecting [Toby’s Corner] to beat
Toby’s Corner overcame a demanding journey to win the Wood: The race chart footnotes describe him as “buried behind and amongst rivals on the far turn … forced to pause once again as the field approached the quarter pole … altered course outward just past the three-sixteenths pole …”
“He had a kind of a Derby-type experience yesterday,” Motion said of the race, which Toby’s Corner won in a time of 1:49.93, earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure, beating Arthur’s Tale by a neck and Uncle Mo by a little more than a length.
Owner-breeder Dianne Cotter and Motion had never once spoken of the Kentucky Derby before the Wood, the trainer said, but yesterday, after the victory over
“She just asked me if we were going, and I said we were,” Motion said. “I just didn’t want to do this for the sake of it. I wanted this horse to take me there.”
Motion said Toby’s Corner will train up to the Kentucky Derby on the Tapeta surface at Fair Hill and ship in late to Churchill Downs.
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Trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday morning that Uncle Mo, who suffered his first career defeat from five starts when finishing third in the Wood, came out of the race in good order.
“Physically he seemed okay this morning,” said Pletcher of Mike Repole’s juvenile champion, who was bright-eyed and happy to see visitors Sunday morning. “He grabbed a quarter, about the size of a nickel, but that will heal quickly and it shouldn’t be an issue.”
Pletcher said plans for
“We’ll see if we can get him prepared to step up,” said the trainer, adding: “It was not a typical
Asked what he thought of this year’s crop of 3-year-olds, Pletcher said: “I went into yesterday thinking
Pletcher said Repole took the colt’s first loss in stride.
“I think he took it better than I did,” said the trainer. “Anytime you run an undefeated champion [and he loses] your feelings are not going to change two minutes, two hours, or two days after the race.”
Joining
“Her last two races were exceptional,” said Pletcher of the 3-year-old daughter of Trippi, who also won the Grade 2 Davona Dale at
Pletcher said R Heat Lightning, like
Pletcher has a number of candidates for the Kentucky Derby; in addition to Uncle Mo and Grade 3 Gotham winner Stay Thirsty, the trainer will send out Brethren, half-brother to last year’s Derby winning Super Saver, in the April 16 Arkansas Derby and the trio of Praetereo, Queen’splatekitten and Sensational Slam in the April 16 Blue Grass at Keeneland. However, Joe Vann, who won Saturday’s Illinois Derby, is not nominated to the Triple Crown.
Headlining Pletcher’s worktab at
“Rule breezed extremely well,” Pletcher said. “He had success at Delta Downs as a 2-year-old which is encouraging in that he should like the tighter turns at Charles Town.”
Pletcher added that the Grade 1, $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap at
Also working Sunday morning at Belmont for the five-time Eclipse winner trainer was Cal Nation, the promising 3-year-old Distorted Humor colt that broke his maiden by 7 ¾-lengths in his debut at Gulfstream Park in February and most recently ran second by a nose in an allowance at the same track.
“He worked very well this morning and seems to have shipped in [from
Cal Nation is pointing for the Grade 2, $150,000 Jerome at Aqueduct on closing weekend, Saturday, April 23 for 3-year-olds going a mile on the main track.
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Newly minted Grade 1 winner Morning Line came out of the 111th Carter Handicap in good shape, Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said Sunday morning, reached by telephone in
Next stop for Morning Line is the 119th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap on May 30 at
“That horse had a two-month layoff since the Donn, and the next start will be in seven weeks,” Zito said. “He was well-deserving in getting the Grade 1.”
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J J’s Lucky Train, the late-running victor of yesterday’s Grade 3 Bay Shore, has the Grade 2 Woody Stephens on the Belmont Stakes undercard on June 11 as a possible long-range objective, trainer Bill Anderson revealed this morning.
“He cleaned up after the trip back to
Anderson, who has trained horses since 1980 and has competed primarily in
“He’s the best, and he showed it yesterday,” said
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Trainer David Fawkes, fresh off Hot Summer’s win in the Grade 3 Comely and Apriority’s runner-up effort behind Morning Line in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, confirmed that he plans to bring approximately 30 horses from
“We’re leaving next week, Sunday or Monday at the latest,” said Fawkes, who trains Hot Summer for Harold L. Queen and Apriority for Donald Dizney. “I’ve been wanting to come up here for a while.”
Fawkes’
“There are a variety of races up there,” said Fawkes.
Fawkes added that Hot Summer, temporarily stabled with
“She’s the Queen Bee,” said Fawkes. “I have to see how she comes out of the [Comely]. I haven’t picked anything yet.”
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Next Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Distaff Handicap for fillies and mares at seven furlongs is expected to mark the return of Spacy Tracy, who won the Grade 2 Top Flight Handicap in November, to Aqueduct Racetrack. The Tony Dutrow trainee will be cutting back in distance in the Distaff following a seventh-place finish in the 1 1/16-mile, Grade 3 Azeri on March 19 at
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