Tom Amoss has taken down more than his share of Fair Grounds training titles, but the biggest prize at Amoss's home track, the $1 million Louisiana Derby, so far has eluded him. While early-season 3-year-olds aren't the major focus of Amoss's operation, he has two 2-year-olds about to turn 3 who might have a chance to give Amoss another shot in the Louisiana Derby in about four months time.
Cavorting, winner of the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga, will try to strengthen her résumé and perhaps nab the Eclipse Award in the female sprint division when she runs in the Grade 1 La Brea on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.
Each of the last two years, jockey Junior Alvarado has missed significant time due to injury. With a top-flight Kentucky Derby contender in Mohaymen to look forward to in 2016, Alvarado hopes that both he and his horse remain healthy.
Four months of winter racing at Turfway Park gets started Thursday evening when the northern Kentucky track runs a nine-race card with big fields from start to finish.
A pair of first-level allowance races restricted to New York-bred fillies and mares – one scheduled for the turf, one on dirt, and both with large fields – highlights Thursday's nine-race card at Aqueduct.
Besides the stakes run at Churchill this weekend, there were some notable performances in overnight races, including three winners that helped Steve Asmussen extend his own record for the most training titles at the Louisville track.
As always, racing fans can hold onto some indelible memories from the final week of the fall meet as stables begin leaving Churchill Downs for the winter. A flurry of notable events took place here during the last few days of action, including victories by Carina Mia and Airoforce in the twin 2-year-old stakes Saturday, the Grade 2 Golden Rod and the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club.
Commissioner ended his career Saturday with a 2 ½-length win in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, and the next day was shipped directly to WinStar Farm in Kentucky to begin a stud career, but for the winners of the two undercard stakes Saturday at Hawthorne, Recount and Puntsville, racing life goes on.
Del Mar's second fall season since the closure of Hollywood Park was, as track president Joe Harper said Sunday night after the meet ended, “a tale of two meets.”
After making his three prior starts on turf, AIROFORCE switched to the dirt for this race. Airoforce – a son of Colonel John - appears, quite simply, to be a good horse, capable on turf as well as, at the least, sloppy dirt.
