Ben's Duchess will start in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on opening day at Santa Anita after a layoff of 12 weeks. The break between races is not a concern for trainer John Sadler,
A three-race sequence of allowance and optional-claiming races anchor the Rainbow 6 and pick five on Sunday at Laurel Park. In addition to quality, the card has quantity. There are 59 betting interests in the Rainbow 6 and 47 in the 12-percent takeout pick five.
It was the year of American Pharoah. Anyone even casually knowledgeable about racing will look back at 2015 as the year racing shed decades of frustration for a number of moments of exultation through the racing talents of American Pharoah. He made an indelible imprint only racing, and crossed over to high name recognition with the mainstream public, with the television ratings for the races in which he competed reaching unprecedented heights compared to previous years. So, clearly American Pharoah was worthy of such a title as sports figure of the year, sports individual of the year, sports newsmaker of the year, or any other such title. He was part of the American sporting conscience. Well, not so fast, said Sports Illustrated.
Horses sired by Kitten's Joy have dominated North American turf racing this year, racking up $9.1 million in earnings on grass. Moms Choice could add just a bit to that total in the featured eighth race at Tampa Bay Downs on Sunday, a first-level optional $75,000 claiming race covering a mile.
Bac In Front and Forget It have each won two derbies at Los Alamitos this year. They have one more chance for a third such win in a competitive running of the $134,150 Southern California Derby on Sunday.
After a two-month search, Paul Espinosa has been named the new announcer at Charles Town.
The sale catalog and racelines for the upcoming Meadowlands January Select Mixed Sale are now available on the Tattersalls website (www.tattersallsredmile.com) and on the Equineline sales app for iPad users.
BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, December 19th by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore.
DRF handicapper Matt Bernier outlines his strategy for playing Saturday's card at Los Alamitos.
The California Horse Racing Board approved licenses for winter-spring meetings at Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita at its monthly meeting at Los Alamitos Racecourse on Thursday after the racetracks and horsemen organizations recently finalized agreements for off-track stabling in 2016.
