The wildlife is winning in western Pennsylvania. The people who run Presque Isle Downs have had to cancel programs and reschedule post times to deal with the potential dangers posed by deer romping around the racetrack.
The Texas Thoroughbred Association is putting on a “rehoming” event July 11 at Lone Star Park.
Following Saturday’s Stars and Stripes stakes smorgasbord, the countdown to Saratoga begins in earnest on this circuit, with only 11 cards remaining at Belmont Park and just six listed stakes left to run at the meet. Sunday’s $100,000 River Memories at 1 1/2 miles on turf features seven fillies and mares hoping to convince their connections they are worthy of running at Saratoga in something like the Grade 3 Waya Stakes on Aug. 8.
Retama Park near San Antonio, Texas, will again feature six stakes during its Thoroughbred meet, which opens Aug. 21. The 26-date season will run through Oct. 17.
Jm Miracle, the winner of last year’s All American Futurity, headlines Sunday’s trials for the $1 million Rainbow Derby at Ruidoso Downs. Jm Miracle goes in the first race and will meet Mad About the Moon, the runner-up in last year’s All American.
Although flashy, high-profile stallions tend to get all the publicity, the key to building a breeding program in a regional market requires good broodmares. Ease of transportation today makes it possible for broodmares to be sent to national breeding centers such as Kentucky to be covered by top sires, but if the broodmare population for a state program is not up to national standards, that program will not consistently produce top-level horses, regardless of the quality of its stallions. As the Florida breeding industry began to grow in the early 1950s, it was particularly blessed with the arrival of a number of broodmares of sometimes doubtful pedigree who turned out to be top-class producers.
El Deal, the undefeated 3-year-old stakes-winning sprinter, will be given 60 days off and return in late fall, trainer Andrew Lakeman said Friday.
Saratoga was not on Untapable’s itinerary during her championship campaign of 2014. Though based there most of the summer, she did not race at the Spa, her connections instead electing to run in the Haskell at Monmouth Park.
Interest in horses-of-racing-age sales has been on the rise as the bloodstock market rebuilds from the recession of the late 2000s and early 2010s, providing instant gratification for owners and an avenue for sellers to cull stock or profit from a high-profile win. All four major North American auction companies – Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton, Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co., and Barretts – have at least one segment dedicated to horses in training, if not an entire sale, and each puts a unique spin on the format to play toward their strengths and spot on the calendar.
Shotgun Kowboy is two works from launching his 3-year-old season and his first major objective is the Oklahoma Derby, according to his breeder, owner and trainer, C.R. Trout.
