Turfway Park fans who heard Jimmy McNerney call the races Friday night will be hearing more of him this winter as longtime announcer Mike Battaglia nears retiring from the booth
The prime property of Churchill Downs Inc. is the Kentucky Derby and the publicly traded company tries to maximize revenues from that singular event to boost its bottom line. For a company that has diversified its portfolio broadly outside racing, the Derby is its one big chip left in the sport. So it was with interest we saw that Churchill had instituted a new future wager on the Kentucky Derby, one for sires, that became available the last weekend of November.
There is a complicating factor in Sunday's featured eighth race at Fair Grounds, a second-level, optional $40,000 claimer for fillies and mares going about a mile on turf: Hot trainer Mike Stidham has two entrants. Worse still, Graceful Grit and Voluptuous look very difficult to separate.
Indiana Grand in Shelbyville will conduct 120 live racing dates in 2016, according to a calendar approved by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission on Wednesday.
Missing Sefa, who will turn 14 on Jan. 1, will be pointed to another race in the starter-allowance ranks after beating just one opponent and finishing 20 lengths behind the winner last Sunday at Turfway.
Matt Rose's analysis of the Sunday Morning 12/13 card at Yonkers Raceway.
Pete Aiello has been named the new announcer for Oaklawn Park. He replaces Frank Mirahmadi, who said on Tuesday he had resigned to call races at Santa Anita.
Trainer Efren Loza Jr. saddles Salt and Pepper (#2, ML 4-1) in Friday's seventh race at Gulfstream Park, a six-furlong maiden claimer. Since Jan. 1, 2014, Loza is winning at a 50 percent clip when saddling a horse making its first start, for a return on investment of $3.89. Check out the Positive ROI report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
Hammersly: Los Alamitos pick three play for Saturday, Dec. 12
BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, December 12th by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore.
