Hi All,
In about a little over one hour Cali Heat is set to make his return to racing after a nearly nine-month layoff due to a wound he sustained in his stall back in February. He will be in race 4 tonight at Penn National (see details below and pp’s attached above). Jomar Torres will ride in what is now a field of seven after 3 scratches. His last workout on October 15th (see below) gave trainer Mark Salvaggio the information that he needed to know that he was ready to race again. Scott’s comments on the entry are below and good luck to all Group 93 Members.
Finally, some ENTRY news for our boy CALI HEAT, as he’s entered on Thursday, October 24th, at Penn National contesting a Starter Allowance Optional Claiming sprint, going 6-furlongs on the dirt. Cali Heat will break from Post Position #4 amongst a full field of now 7 runners, and lands top jockey Jomar Torres in the saddle; they are the second favorite on the ML at 5-1 odds. A freak stall incident the morning of his last entry back in February turned into a 9-month layoff requiring attentive care and patience to get him back to this point of being race-ready. Incredibly, Cali Heat returned to training like he didn’t miss a beat over the summer and has continued that trend into the Fall. He just finished up his final prep for his comeback race, firing a bullet gate breeze over 5-furlongs, below is the Equibase Workout Notification. Trainer Mark Salvaggio has been really happy with what he’s seen from him in the mornings, and called right after his gate breeze to tell me Cali Heat is “ready to go.” We’re hoping things will translate to the evenings right off the bat for us!
Cali Heat (3-Year-Old Colt)
Date: October 15, 2024
Track: PENN NATIONAL
Distance: Five Furlongs
Time: 1.00:81 Breezing
Track Condition: Fast
Surface: Dirt
Rank: 1/4
Calming Sea is well after her 5th place blanket finish at the Meadowlands last Friday and is on the way to Palm Meadows for fall and winter racing at Gulfstream Park. Scott’s post race comments are below
In a sport that can come down to inches sometimes, CALMING SEA ran a heck of race last night to finish a disappointing 5th Place, but only beaten by a HALF A LENGTH FOR THE WIN! She broke a step slow and Luis Rivera Jr. had to ask her early to get where she likes to be on the front-end. She then was squeezed going into the first turn, forcing Luis to shuffle back and regroup. She traveled nicely up the backstretch and around the far turn, ultimately making a nice move at the Quarter Pole and top of the stretch, nearly grabbing the lead by the Eighth Pole. Unfortunately, there was a wall of other fillies bearing down on the gate-to-wire winner by the Sixteenth Pole and a all six horses hit the wire together in a thrilling finish! Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong side of the photo, settling for 5th Place. Calming Sea improved her speed figure once again and is certainly a hard-trying filly who bound get her next win very soon! She came out of the race in good order, jogged sound for Kelly’s team was right back in her feed. There will be plenty of racing down at GP for Calming Sea, and she has run her best races on the synthetic track at Gulfstream.
Red Head Italian has shipped to Laurel Park in Maryland following her return to racing on October 18th after nearly a year layoff. She will train with Brittany Russell who was the first female trainer to lead the Annual Training Standings in Maryland last year. We are excited to have her in this position and look to have some success this fall with a possible entry for her on November 7th.
Vino Limone is also on the van headed for Palm Meadows and will continue training with Kelly Breen for a possible entry on Friday November 1st.
Lisa’s Palace is in training with Mark Salvaggio at Penn National and will have a breeze in the next few days to begin preparation for her next race sometime next month.
Outlaw Country is enjoying his time at Sunset Meadow Farm getting plenty of time outside in the paddock. We will be scheduling a visit to see him in the near future.
Our Connect / Lisa Limon filly is well at Hidden Brook Farm in Kentucky. She will be vanning to a farm in Delaware in late October to become Delaware certified for additional race purses when she is eligible next year.