Golden Gate Fields racing secretary Patrick Mackey is about to begin an eight-month grind of filling races, but he’s looking forward to the 32-day fall meeting that begins Thursday at the Albany, Calif., track and continues through Dec. 13.
Silent Prayer has picked up a lot of cash running in – but not winning – stakes races restricted to horses sired in Florida. The homebred daughter of Brooks ’n Down has earned $196,350 in five starts and has a good chance of getting her second win when she runs in a $75,000 optional-claiming race that will serve as the featured race on Thursday at Gulfstream Park West.
The Meadowlands will race live on Friday and Saturday throughout the 2016 season. Post time will be moved up to 7:00 pm and a few more races may be added to accommodate the demands of the horse population.
Harness racing is not immune from an overwhelming attraction to the top names in the sport. Routinely shoppers head to the annual yearling sales looking for pedigrees they are "familiar" with. Brand recognition is a marketing tool that suggests items with a name on them act and perform better than items with other names, or even worse, no names.
Joes Blazing Aaron looks like the one they will have to catch and beat in a $25,000 starter allowance at Gulfstream Park West on Wednesday that also carries a $35,000 claiming option.
Keeneland says the final four-day stretch of the fall meet starts Wednesday, but they’re not fooling anybody. Technically, yes, the 17-day fall meet ends Saturday, but then there’s that little something called the Breeders’ Cup that follows.A pair of $58,000, first-level allowances helps to get things moving Wednesday, when first post for an eight-race card is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. The deeper of the two is race 7, a turf route that drew an oversubscribed field of 3-year-olds and upward.
Trainer Bill Mott, who said he'll have a trio of Breeders’ Cup pre-entries, sent a pair of those runners out to work Monday at host track Keeneland.
Trip Notes for October 17-18: Athenia, Raven Run, Canadian International, and more by Michael Hammersly.
G.G. Ryder defeated stablemate Outside Nashville in the $62,505 Bull Dog Handicap at the Big Fresno Fair on Sunday after getting a heady ride from regular jockey Ricardo Gonzalez.
The California Horse Racing Board issued a statement Friday, warning horsemen that a readily available feed supplement – Finish Line Iron Power – has a concentration of cobalt close to the permitted level allowed in post-race tests.
