May, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Grade 1 Winner Dr. Schivel Returns From 14-Month Layoff In Saturday Allowance At Santa Anita

Dr. Schivel, the 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up who has not started since last year's G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen on March 26, is set to return Saturday in a six-furlong classified allowance at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

Dr. Schivel will face four rivals in his long-awaited comeback including C Z Rocket, the 2022 Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up at Keeneland. Santa Anita leading rider Juan Hernandez has the call on Dr. Schivel.

Trained by Mark Glatt, Dr. Schivel has been working at Santa Anita since early February. Following a series of rainstorms at Santa Anita that wreaked havoc on training schedules, Dr. Schivel has since been on a once-a-week work pattern. Most recently, he worked six furlongs in 1:12.20 on May 1 and returned with a five-furlong move in 1:01.20 on Monday.

Glatt had considered sending Dr. Schivel to Pimlico for a try in the G3 Maryland Sprint on the Preakness undercard but the decision was ultimately made to stay home.

“When a horse has been off that long, you want to make it as easy as you can. But they're never easy,” Glatt noted. “We're trying to get a race under his belt and see where he's at off this layoff.”

A 5-year-old full horse by Violence, Dr. Schivel has a record of 5-2-2 in 10 starts with earnings of $1,076,500. As a 3-year-old, he won the G1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar and G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship before a heartbreaking nose defeat to Aloha West in that year's Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar.

Dr. Schivel's only start last year was a third in the Dubai Golden Shaheen in the Middle East. Glatt said his charge returned from the trip with bone bruising and he was ultimately given the rest of the year off.

“He's doing well. He seems to be about the same as he was as a 4-year-old,” Glatt said. “He's certainly fresh for Saturday.”

C Z Rocket was entered in last Saturday's G1 Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard but was scratched. An earner of just under $2 million, C Z Rocket has not started since finishing eighth in this year's Dubai Golden Shaheen on March 25. He will be ridden on Saturday by Ramon Vazquez.

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Yakteen Will ‘Play It By Ear’ With Practical Move; Reincarnate, Fort Bragg Return To Baffert’s Barn

Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move, who was scratched from last Saturday's Kentucky Derby due to a fever, returned to Santa Anita from Churchill Downs on Wednesday night.

Practical Move was withdrawn from the 149th Kentucky Derby last Thursday when he was found to have an elevated temperature after a morning jog. Trainer Tim Yakteen said this morning “everything is good” with the colt but there is no timetable when he will return to training.

“We'll just play it by ear,” Yakteen said. “We're good, but first we'll let him get his feet underneath him. We'll come up with a plan when he's back in a regular training routine.”

Joining Practical Move on the return trip from Kentucky were four other horses Yakteen started on the Kentucky Derby undercard: Kangaroo Court, Johannes, Fort Bragg and Reincarnate. Yakteen reported all were doing well Thursday morning.

Kangaroo Court finished a disappointing 11th as the slight 4-1 favorite in the GII Pat Day Mile when trying open stakes company for the first time. Breaking from the rail under John Velazquez, he was just a head back after the opening half mile but then quickly faded out of contention.

“He just didn't fire. No excuse,” Yakteen said. “We'll regroup and figure it out. He was absolutely doing fantastic going into the race. He's a headscratcher for us.”

Meanwhile, Fort Bragg nearly won the Pat Day Mile when being beaten only a neck by General Jim for “Shug” McGaughey. He is back at Santa Anita and has been reunited with Bob Baffert, Yakteen said.

Also back with Baffert is Reincarnate. The Good Magic colt, with Velazquez up, was forwardly placed in the Derby before faltering to a 13th-place finish.

Johannes suffered his first loss on turf when a troubled fifth in the GII American Turf. With Umberto Rispoli in the irons, he was stuck behind a wall of horses at the rear of the field. Despite a moderate pace, the Nyquist colt was finally able to launch a rail rally in the stretch to be beaten just over two lengths.

“He ran an amazing race,” Yakteen said. “When you're that far back on a pedestrian pace, it's almost impossible to make up that kind of ground.”

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New York-Bred Star Bank Sting Retired, Broodmare Plans To Be Determined

Hidden Brook Farm and Joseph McMahon have announced their five-time stakes winner Bank Sting has been retired from racing.

Bred in New York by her co-owner Joseph McMahon, Bank Sting won a pair of stakes at Belmont Park and was a three-time stakes winner and graded stakes placed over the Aqueduct Racetrack oval while bankrolling $664,050 in earnings. One of her career highlights came in the listed $120,000 Heavenly Prize Stakes against open company at one mile last year.

The bay daughter of Central Banker out of the Precise End mare Bee in a Bonnet won eight of her 15 lifetime starts, stakes from six furlongs to one-mile and was only off of the board once during her career for trainer John Terranova. Two-time New York champion sire Central Banker stands at Joseph McMahon's McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds.

“We had a terrific run with Bank Sting from her first start to her last. She always gave a 100 percent and we could rely on her for that extra effort in the heat of battle. Our partnership is honored that Bank Sting has been recognized twice as champion older mare and sprinter by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders,” said McMahon.

“Bank Sting is currently being turned out at Hidden Brook Farm in Kentucky. She's remarkably sound and is enjoying retirement. With the breeding season this far along, we'll weigh all of our options and possibly point her to one of the November sales as a maiden broodmare prospect then,” added Hidden Brook racing manager Dan Hall.

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Forte Disqualified From Hopeful Over Meloxicam Positive; Todd Pletcher Fined, Suspended 10 Days

Last year's Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old, Forte has now been disqualified from his victory in the 2022 Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. According to bloodhorse.com, the colt tested positive for meloxicam after his Hopeful victory.

While a New York State Gaming Commission ruling has not yet been posted, an attorney for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher informed bloodhorse.com about the disqualification, and said that Pletcher will also be fined $10,000 and suspended for 10 days.

The decision will be appealed, Pletcher's attorney told the Thoroughbred Daily News.

“This horse came into our care on March 25, 2022,” Pletcher told TDN. “He was never prescribed or administered meloxicam under our care.”

Just days after Forte was scratched as the favorite on the morning of the Kentucky Derby, the New York Times broke the news that the colt had a drug positive still pending from his juvenile season. The Times' Joe Drape reported that two sources close to the situation say the positive is from a post-race test taken after Forte's win in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga in September. Drape's sources indicated the substance in question was “used to relieve pain and reduce inflammation” but was not specifically named.

Adjudication of the positive dragged on; a spokesperson for the New York State Gaming Commission told Drape the delays were “sought by the trainer's counsel.”

Meanwhile, after his win in the Hopeful, Forte went on to capture the G1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, followed by the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, earning him the 2022 Eclipse Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Colt.

Although he had been projected as the morning-line favorite in the G1 Kentucky Derby, Forte was scratched the morning of the race by Kentucky state veterinarians after his connections said he had been battling a foot bruise for several days. His status for the Preakness remains in doubt, because a veterinary scratch triggers an automatic entry to the vet's list for 14 days and requires a workout and blood test for removal from the list.

Pletcher had a hearing before the New York stewards on Wednesday, and the decision was handed down on Thursday.

Meloxicam is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID), according to Medlineplus.gov, which is used in human medicine “to relieve pain, tenderness, swelling, and stiffness caused by osteoarthritis (arthritis caused by a breakdown of the lining of the joints) and rheumatoid arthritis (arthritis caused by swelling of the lining of the joints).”

The Association of Racing Commissioners International classifies Meloxicam as a Class 4, Penalty Class B drug. Class 4 drugs are therapeutic medications that would be expected to have less potential to affect performance than those in Class 3. Drugs in this class includes less potent diuretics; corticosteroids; antihistamines and skeletal muscle relaxants without prominent central nervous system (CNS) effects; expectorants and mucolytics; hemostatics; cardiac glycosides and anti-arrhythmics; topical anesthetics; antidiarrheals and mild analgesics. This class also includes the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), at concentrations greater than established limits.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program, which is expected to launch on May 22, classifies Meloxicam as a controlled medication with a Class B penalty. A first offense would result in an automatic disqualification, 15-day suspension, and fine up to $1,000.

Earlier this week, HISA released a statement regarding its public reporting and disclosure policies pursuant to the ADMC rules. Had the ADMC rules been in effect after Forte's positive test in the G1 Hopeful, a public notification would have been made after the B sample confirmed the positive test rather than waiting for a ruling to be made.