If all had gone according to plan, Commissioner might have been competing nearly 8,000 miles away and for more than 60 times the purse money on Saturday in the $10 million Dubai World Cup, rather than the $150,000 Skip Away at Gulfstream Park.
Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) announced Thursday (3/26) that the mandatory payout for the Standardbred Jackpot Hi-5 is set for Saturday, April 4, the second-to-last card of the Woodbine meet.
The racing world and trainer Mark Ford have been patiently waiting for world champion Warrawee Needy to return to the brilliant form he held as a two and three-year-old. Finally over the winter, the six-year-old son of E Dees Cam has shown up with more wins than losses on his card including a Levy series preliminary victory.
A hatching of Eastern tent caterpillars, which have been associated with Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MRLS), was reported March 23 in Scott County, Kentucky, north of the heart of the Thoroughbred breeding industry in Lexington.
Trainer Tom Amoss is hoping the work done with War Story in recent weeks will close the gap, even reverse it, when his horse meets International Star for the third straight time in the Grade 2, $750,000 Louisiana Derby on Saturday at Fair Grounds.
Their paths will likely cross again later this year, but for at least one day Twilight Eclipse won’t have to tussle with Main Sequence when he runs in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Pan American Handicap.
Brother Pat goes after his fourth win in a row Saturday as he tops an overflow field of 14 entered in the colts and geldings division of the final leg of the Tampa Turf Test at about 1 3/8 miles on the turf.
A game Ekati’s Phaeton held off Birdatthewire and Eskenformoney in last month’s Grade 2 Davona Dale, with only two necks separating the trio of 3-year-old fillies. The dynamics change significantly in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Gulfstream Oaks.
Tim Snyder, the down-and-out upstate New York horseman who purchased Lisa’s Booby Trap for $4,500 in 2010 and won $182,000 with her, has died at age 59, according to an obituary in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and a Facebook post by Snyder’s daughter Sierra Chidester on the fan page of Lisa’s Booby Trap.
Easter Indy and Jean’s Beauty both ran competitive races against quality older rivals in their last starts and the return to racing with 3-year-olds Saturday at Oaklawn in the $75,000 Rainbow Miss would seem to be an advantage for both fillies.
