INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Blind Luck breezed a half-mile in 48 seconds on a foggy Monday morning at Hollywood Park, her first workout since a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing on Oct. 2.
The five-time stakes winner this year worked alone, an exercise that was her first work in the build-up to the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5. Over the next few weeks, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said he will not overly train Blind Luck before she races in Kentucky.
“I don’t think I’ll train her really hard up to the next race,” Hollendorfer said. “I don’t think she needs it.”
Blind Luck made her fourth trip across the nation this year for the Cotillion Stakes. Earlier this year, she won the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in April, the Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park in July, and the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in August. Each time, she returned to Southern California.
In the Cotillion Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, Blind Luck was beaten a neck by BC Ladies’ Classic contender Havre de Grace, closing from 7 3/4 lengths off the pace to just miss. Blind Luck carried 124 pounds, 10 more than Havre de Grace.
“We knew we were taking a chance running her in that race,” Hollendorfer said. “I couldn’t see racing against Zenyatta as a better alternative. You want to win every time. The timing of the race was really good.”
Blind Luck could have stayed at Hollywood Park for the Grade 1 Lady’s Secret Stakes, which was won by Zenyatta, who stretched her unbeaten streak to 19 races. Blind Luck and Zenyatta have never met. Zenyatta is being pointed to the BC Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6.
The BC Ladies’ Classic will be Blind Luck’s first start against older fillies and mares.
DeLima handed 30-day suspension
Owner-trainer Jose DeLima was suspended 30 days by the Hollywood Park board of stewards on Monday for an animal-welfare violation in February 2007.
DeLima, 49, trained and co-owned Eligant Wager, who was scratched from a race at Santa Anita on Feb. 9, 2007, and placed on a veterinarian’s list for unsoundness. The following day, Eligant Wager broke down and was euthanized. Exercise rider Rodrigo Duran suffered a broken leg and collarbone in the spill.
DeLima was given a 30-day suspension in May 2007 but appealed the decision. At the time, the stewards wrote in a statement of decision that DeLima had violated rules pertaining to animal welfare.
The statement read, in part, “This case involves a situation in which [DeLima] failed to follow basic procedures relating to horse care, the adherence to which the catastrophic injury to Eligant Wager might have been avoided.”
The statement also indicated that a state veterinarian and private veterinarian had examined Eligant Wager and found that she was lame “albeit to different degrees and on different limbs.”
After the original ruling, DeLima obtained a Superior Court Stay to allow an appeal to be heard. A hearing referee later upheld the suspension, but DeLima continued to appeal the case, which was dismissed by a court of appeals last month.
DeLima’s suspension begins Oct. 18 and runs through Nov. 16. This year, he has won 8 races from 43 starters, but has not had a winner since May 29.
Sidney’s Candy posts bullet work
Sidney’s Candy, the four-time graded stakes winner who was scratched from Saturday’s Grade 2 Oak Tree Mile because of a pending sale, worked five furlongs in 58.80 seconds Monday.
The workout was the fastest of 37 recorded works at the distance.
Sidney’s Candy is being trained up to the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 6. He has won 5 of 9 starts and $803,560 for breeder Jenny Craig.
Trainer John Sadler said Monday that the expected deal had not been finalized because of Monday’s bank holiday in observance of Columbus Day. He did not name the prospective buyer.
◗ Trainers Carla Gaines and Howard Zucker were fined $500 each last weekend for medication violations found in their starters at Del Mar earlier this year. Gaines was cited after Missdealornodeal, the third-place finisher in an optional claimer Aug. 19, had a post-race test that indicated the presence of Cetirizine, an antihistamine. Zucker was cited after Maui Mark, the winner of an optional claimer over five furlongs on turf on July 29, tested positive for the muscle relaxant Methocarbamol.
◗ The apprentice term of jockey Alex Gonzalez has been extended 57 days, to Dec. 27, after the rider provided medication records detailing a recent injury, the stewards wrote in a ruling Saturday. Gonzalez, 18, did not ride from Aug. 11 at Del Mar until last Friday at Hollywood Park. He has ridden 79 winners through Sunday.
