Palace will look to put a bow on a sensational career Saturday when he makes his 30th and final start in the $100,000 Gravesend Stakes as racing resumes at Aqueduct following a five-day holiday break.
Last year's Santa Anita winter meeting saw American Pharoah train toward his Triple Crown run, Dortmund emerge as the leading 3-year-old who actually raced at the meet, and Shared Belief beat California Chrome in the San Antonio. This year's meet might unfold a bit differently:
Northern California racing fans got a real treat on Halloween when trainer Jerry Hollendorfer debuted the 2-year-old Allaboutaction, who won by nine lengths. The impressive win ignited a buzz that this was an El Camino Real Derby horse to watch. When the Golden Gate Fields 96-day winter-spring meeting gets under way Saturday, fans will be treated to another appearance by Allaboutaction.
Stakes winners Indian Tiva and Dust Alert meet the impressive maiden winner Bryn's Fancy Pants in the $85,000 La Senora Stakes at Sunland Park on Saturday. The six-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies bred in New Mexico drew a field of seven.
Trainer George S. Bush isn't quite sure whether Comanche's Storm has the stamina to go 1 1/8 miles, but the 3-year-old colt at least will get some class relief when he starts in the featured fourth race Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, a first-level, $23,000 turf allowance for horses ages 3 and up.
Santiago Gonzalez, a successful rider in his native Venezuela, came to Southern California last December after a stint riding in Florida. He needed a change, and he hoped that California was the answer.
Four trials for 3-year-olds seeking berths in next month's $100,000 Hialeah Maturity and a $35,000 stakes highlight Saturday's opening-day program for Quarter Horses at Hialeah Park.
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Ready Intaglio just missed in a turf race at Turf Paradise Dec. 9, but that good effort and a return to dirt – maybe his best footing – make him dangerous in Saturday's $35,000 Lost in the Fog at Turf Paradise. Also on the card is the Arizona Juvenile Filly for 2-year-old fillies.
Longtime Pennsylvania horsemen Keith LeBarron died Monday at age 62 following a brief illness.
Workers' compensation insurance rates to cover jockeys and exercise riders could increase dramatically at New York Thoroughbred tracks in 2016 unless the New York Gaming Commission approves a plan submitted Monday that could keep levels at 2015 rates.
