AT THE POST
DAY 26 of 57
THURSDAY’S ATTENDANCE 3,500 ON-TRACK HANDLE $269,608 OFF-TRACK HANDLE $3,569,753 TOTAL HANDLE $3,839,361 TODAY’S POST TIME 1:30 p.m. (Gates open at 11 a.m.) ADMISSION Free for general admission; reserved seats $4.50 PARKING $2 until 4 p.m. TODAY’S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Laurel Park, 11:25 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Gulfstram Park, noon; Aqueduct, 12:30 p.m.; Fair Grounds, 12:30 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:45 p.m.; Santa Anita, 3 p.m.; Penn National, 5 p.m.; Turfway Park, 5:15 p.m.; Charles Town, 6 p.m.; Daytona Beach (greyhounds), 6:25 p.m.; Derby Lane (greyhounds), 6:30 p.m.; Sam Houston, 6:45 p.m.
THURSDAY’S STARS
Jockeys Fernando De La Cruz and Terry Thompson both won two races Thursday, with Thompson’s victories sandwiched between De La Cruz’s.
All four victories came in races covering 6 furlongs. De La Cruz got his first victory aboard Italian Justice ($5.20, $2.80, $2.60) in the third race in a time of 1:11.34. Thompson won the fourth race with Laney’s Love ($11.80, $3.80, $2.60) with a time of 1:10.49, then won the seventh race aboard The Great Dansky ($4.80, $3.20, $2.80) in 1:10.49. De La Cruz’s second victory was in the eighth race, running Augie ($20.40, $7.40, $5.40) in 1:10.49.
De La Cruz is tied with Walter De La Cruz and Tyler Baze — who won Thursday’s sixth race aboard Road
Test — for sixth place in the jockey standings with 13 victories. Ricardo Santana leads the jockey race with 29 victories in 132 starts, while David Cohen is second with 23 victories and Martin Garcia is third with 17.
A FAST HORSE
Lykan is named for a line of uberfast, uber-expensive sports cars. Lykan — the horse — is pretty fast, too, and his value may be increasing after a victory Feb. 23 in a first-level allowance sprint for trainer Ingrid Mason.
Reunited with jockey Tyler Baze, Lykan ran 6 furlongs in 1:10.07 in his first start since finishing seventh in his two-turn debut, the Smarty Jones Stakes on Jan. 24. Baze also guided Lykan to his only other career victory, a 41/2-length maiden winner at Keeneland on Oct. 4.
“He’s a green horse that is still learning how to run,” Mason said. “He’s just one of those kinds of horses. Tyler fits him really well. He got a pretty rough trip in the Smarty Jones. It was pretty bad, so you’ve king of got to put a cross through that. I’m definitely going to keep him at three-quarters.”
Mason said Lykan will be considered for the Gazebo Stakes for 3-year-olds March 21.
FINISH LINES
Grade I winner and millionaire Street Band tuned up for the Grade II Azeri Stakes for older fillies and mares by working 5 furlongs in :59.80 Sunday morning for trainer Larry Jones. The Azeri, which will run March 14, is the final major local prep for the Grade I Apple Blossom Handicap on April 18. Both races are 11/16 miles. … Martin Garcia became the second jockey to reach $1 million in purse earnings at the meet with his victory aboard favored Awesome Anywhere in Sunday’s seventh race for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Awesome Anywhere ran 6 furlongs in a meet-best 1:08.76 to win the starter-allowance race by 33/4 lengths. … Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen became the first trainer at the meet to surpass $2 million in purse earnings after winning four races Saturday. … Weather permitting, the infield will be open for the first time Saturday.