Laurel shows off new look on Maryland Million Day
There is still work to do at Laurel Park, but the large Maryland Million Day crowd seemed to enjoy their new surroundings.
Jim DunleavyOct 21, 2015
There is still work to do at Laurel Park, but the large Maryland Million Day crowd seemed to enjoy their new surroundings.
Effinex will be a longshot in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, but on Wednesday there were a couple of developments that might make one take a second glance at the multiple-graded-stakes-winning New York-bred.
This won’t be your typical Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. For the first time since 2007, the $2 million race will be run without a horse from either the barn of Bob Baffert or Todd Pletcher, who have combined to win the Juvenile five times, including three of the last five runnings.
Personal Diary is a Grade 1 winner who hasn’t competed outside of graded company in nearly 15 months and heads a potent entry for trainer Vicki Oliver in Friday’s $60,000 allowance feature at Keeneland.
A lawsuit filed by Terry Finley against the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association disputing the organization’s 2014 election results has been dismissed after the suit was withdrawn, according to court papers in the case.
A staggering 27 horses – the most of any Breeders’ Cup race – were pre-entered for the Juvenile Turf, ensuring a full field as Breeders’ Cup Friday gets underway next week at Keeneland.
Despite the imposing presence of Liam’s Map, an over-subscribed field of 16 pre-entered the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, which will be run Friday, Oct. 30.
The list of pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31 was hours from being officially announced on Wednesday when the European Group 1 winner Postponed was withdrawn from consideration. Postponed, the winner of the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in July, had a workout in Newmarket, England, on Wednesday but did not scope well afterward.
Perhaps the addition of blinkers will give Nexrad a slight edge in a wildly competitive $77,000 first-level allowance race Friday at Belmont Park.
El Charro and Copingaway look like the main players in a $75,000 optional-claiming race for 2-year-olds at Gulfstream Park West Friday.