Patricia Cooksey, Aaron Gryder, Edgar Prado, and John Velazquez are the four finalists for the 2004 Mike Venezia Award, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday.
The Venezia Award was instituted by the NYRA to honor the memory of jockey Mike Venezia, who was killed in a spill at Belmont Park on Oct. 13, 1988. The award honors riders who "exemplify extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship."
Effective with the May 20 edition, Daily Racing Form past performances include the allowance conditions, or class codes, in optional claiming races instead of just the claiming prices. For example, a $40,000 optional claiming race with a nonwinners-of-two allowance condition will be displayed "OC 40k/n2x." If the horse is not entered to be claimed, an "N" will be appended to the class code. The new display helps to define more clearly the class levels for optional claiming races.
Azamour and Grey Swallow, third and fourth in the English 2000 Guineas three weeks ago, should be together the finish of the Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh on Saturday. Grey Swallow could reverse the order in the $500,000 Irish Guineas, as his trainer, Dermot Weld, felt that he was short of full race fitness at Newmarket.
Effective with the May 20 edition, Daily Racing Form past performances include the allowance conditions, or class codes, in optional claiming races instead of just the claiming prices. For example, a $40,000 optional claiming race with a nonwinners-of-two allowance condition will be displayed "OC 40k/n2x." If the horse is not entered to be claimed, an "N" will be appended to the class code. The new display helps to define more clearly the class levels for optional claiming races.
Damage estimates from a fire that destroyed the Assiniboia Downs press box Monday morning have increased to $1.5 million from the $1 million originally thought. The fire is thought by track investigators to have been the result faulty electrical wiring. . . . Canterbury Park Holding Corporation, which owns the racetrack and card club in Shakopee, Minn., had a 23.4 increase - from $9,229,250 to $11,385,965 - in revenue in the first quarter of 2004 compared with the first quarter of 2003, fueled primarily by a 40 percent rise in card club revenue.
Smarty Jones will have a public training session at Philadelphia Park Saturday at 8:30 a.m. It follows by a week Smarty Jones's victory in the Preakness Stakes, which put him one step away from becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 26 years.
Smarty Jones had a similar public appearance at Philadelphia Park on May 8, a week after his victory in the Kentucky Derby. An estimated 5,000 fans showed up that day to watch Smarty Jones gallop with regular exercise rider Pete Van Trump. A larger crowd is anticipated this Saturday.
The final Nielsen rating for the last hour of NBC-TV's Preakness Stakes broadcast was a 7.7 with a 19 share, NBC said Tuesday, up 35 percent over the same segment of the broadcast last year. The rating for the entire program will be available Thursday. . . . The long-awaited return of France's top two fillies might occur in Sunday's Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp, where Six Perfections and Nebraska Tornado could hook up in the Group 1 race for older horses. The two are among 27 horses still eligible for the race after Tuesday's five-day forfeit stage.
Effective with the May 20 edition, Daily Racing Form past performances will include the allowance conditions, or class codes, in optional claiming races instead of just the claiming prices. For example, a $40,000 optional claiming race with a nonwinners-of-two allowance condition will be displayed "OC 40k/n2x." If the horse is not entered to be claimed, an "N" will be appended to the class code. The new display helps to define more clearly the class levels for optional claiming races.
As of 5 p.m. Monday at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's May juvenile sale in Timonium, Md., the leader at the first of two sessions was a $300,000 Stormy Atlantic colt bought by John Ferguson, agent for Sheikh Mohammed. The seller was Bridlewood Farm. The colt is out of the unraced Siberian Express mare Story Book Girl. . . . Evangeline Downs canceled Saturday evening's program after the third race when a faulty transformer prevented the track from being properly lit as darkness fell. Among the races lost was the B. B.
* Fade to Blue ($4.20), ridden by Wilson Dieguez, drew off to a two-length victory over 21-1 longshot Golden Approval in the $50,000 Hasta la Vista Handicap at 1 7/8 miles on turf, the traditional closing-day feature at Turf Paradise.
* Swasti ($32.60) made an outside move to sweep past dueling pacesetters Madam Speaker and Ashley's Affair to score a 1 3/4-length victory in the $40,000 Lady Slipper, a six-furlong stakes for Minnesota-bred fillies and mares at Canterbury Park.