Friday night’s $75,000 Prairie Meadows Juvenile Mile kicks off a busy final weekend of the thoroughbred meet. Featuring eight colts and geldings hoping to stretch their nascent talent around two turns, the Juvenile Mile is headed by Cash Bonus and Sightforsoreeyes.
It has been a hall of fame-worthy summer for Jake Delhomme. After starring for Lafayette’s Teurlings Catholic High School, then the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, Ragin’ Cajuns from 1993 to 1996, Delhomme was a free agent NFL signee with New Orleans. He spent three years with the Saints before signing with Carolina before the 2003 season, which ended in the Super Bowl. He led 23 game-winning drives for the Panthers and holds Carolina records for pass yards and touchdowns. He collected 20,975 yards passing and threw for 126 touchdowns, completing 59.4 percent of his passes for three NFL teams in an outstanding career. For those exploits, Delhomme was one of eight new members inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in a ceremony June 27 at the state-of-the-art Louisiana Sports and History Museum in Natchitoches.
Nobody is saying Curlin’s Princess is a future stakes winner, least of all her trainer, Marty Wolfson. But with her pedigree and the advantage of a recent race under the proverbial belt, the 3-year-old filly is a prime candidate to advance through her first allowance condition.
Trainer Dan Hendricks has a busy weekend ahead of him. He’ll be sending out Om in the Grade 3, $150,000 La Jolla Handicap on Sunday at Del Mar, but will be jetting out to Colorado Springs on Friday to see his father inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Trainer Brad Cox saddles Cash Control (#2, ML 15-1) in Wednesday's eighth race at Saratoga, a 1 1/16-mile optional claimer on turf. Since Jan., 1, 2014, Cox is winning at a 25 percent clip when saddling a horse switching from dirt to turf, for a return on investment of $3.56. Check out the Positive ROI report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
With two wins and three runner-up finishes from five starts at the distance, Camille could be a handful when she runs in a 5 1/2-furlong sprint for fillies and mares Friday evening at Emerald Downs. The $25,000 optional-claiming race, which drew seven horses, has other speed, however, and Camille will need to be on her toes breaking from the inside post with Francisco Duran aboard.
Happy My Way, the champion Florida-bred sprinter and older male of 2014, has been euthanized after being injured in the West Virginia Legislature Chairman’s Cup at Mountaineer Park on Saturday.
Two Wonders (#3, ML 6-1) returns in Wednesday's second race at Presque Isle Downs, a 1 1/16-mile optional claimer. It will be her first start since finishing first by six lengths in a claiming race May 25 at Presque Isle Downs. The second-, third-, and eighth-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts. Get the Key Race report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
Multiple Group 1 winner Al Kazeem will return to stud for the 2016 breeding season after being retired due to a suspensory branch injury.
Brad Free's horses to watch at Del Mar for the week of Aug. 5.
