Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Mass., will run three race dates this summer spread out over three months under a plan devised by the track and the state’s horsemen, according to Lou Raffetto, a consultant to the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.
A lawsuit filed by owner Willis Horton and jockey Luis Saez alleging libel against trainer Eric Guillot is likely to go to mediation within the next 120 days, according to the attorney representing the plaintiffs and court documents.
With the Derby preps over, this is certainly a calmer week, with the notable exception of America’s best horse leaving California for the first time and racing in the Charles Town Classic on Saturday. The superstars are the horses that get beyond the 110 Beyer range. Shared Belief has now done it twice, including the 111 he got when winning the Santa Anita Handicap on March 7. The 4-year-old has now gotten triple-digit Beyers in seven of his 11 lifetime starts.
Trainer Bob Gorham gave some thought to shooting for a sweep of Saturday’s $75,000 co-featured stakes at Mahoning Valley Race Course by running 2014 Ohio champion juvenile filly Justalittlesmoke against statebred males in the Howard B. Noonan and relying on fast maiden winner Candy War and recent allowance winner Lonestar Angel in the Austintown Filly Sprint.
As 3-year-olds last summer, A Little Bit Sassy and Istanford established themselves as Grade 2-caliber turf fillies. Despite last-race running lines that look ugly, both A Little Bit Sassy and Istanford merit respect facing softer company in the $100,000 Dahlia, one of six stakes Saturday at Pimlico.
I’m taking an upset shot with General a Rod in Saturday’s Charles Town Classic.
Anna May Our Queen will return to action in Thursday's eighth race at Gulfstream Park, a five-furlong maiden claimer on turf. It will be her first start since a third-place finish by one length in a five-furlong turf race Jan. 31 at Gulfstream Park. The first- and second-place finishers from that maiden special weight race came back to win their next starts.
Prairie Meadows kicks off its 26th Thoroughbred racing meet, offering more than $15 million in total purses, with a nine-race card that gets under way Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Central.
Doimakeyahappy, who led into the final furlong of his last start against the highly regarded Special Envoy in his second start for trainer Dale Bennett, looks like the horse to catch on Saturday when he heads a field of 10 optional-claiming routers slated to go postward in the mile headliner over the Tampa turf course.
Executive Allure went on a tear at the end of last year, and will be seeking her third straight win Saturday at Woodbine in the Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares with a base purse of $150,000.
