Building upon the momentum generated by its recently concluded annual board of directors meeting, the United States Trotting Association will create and host at least two “industry summits” this year, USTA President Phil Langley announced Wednesday (3/18).
Larry Jones thought he’d found a nice spot for Coup de Grace to make his 4-year-old debut – an allowance race with multiple conditions and a $62,500 claiming option that would serve as a stepping stone to a possible stakes start at Keeneland.
Arlington International released a pared-down 2015 stakes schedule late Tuesday, but the International Festival of Racing, headlined by the Arlington Million, is still intact.
One of the most successful owner-trainer combinations in recent years on this circuit appears on the verge of parting ways.
Royal Son was tabbed the 7-2 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. – a race from which he will start from the fence in a full field of 12.
It’s about that time of year when Kentucky Derby nostalgia starts to surface. Carl Nafzger already is drawing inquiries about the 25th anniversary of Unbridled winning both the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby on his way to winning the Eclipse Award for top 3-year-old male of 1990.
Wildcat Red, who was named Florida-bred Horse of the Year for 2014 at the annual awards ceremony Monday night in Ocala, Fla., could return to light training around the first of April, according to trainer Jose Garoffalo.
Poseidon’s Way is developing into a promising 3-year-old for Pin Oak Stable and trainer Donnie Von Hemel, and depending on the horse’s performance in Friday’s second race at Oaklawn Park he could advance to stakes company in the near future.
Fillies and mares will take center stage on the main track Saturday at Gulfstream Park when a pair of Grade 2, $200,000 races serve as nearly identical co-features of a 12-race program. Distance is the only factor that differentiates the Inside Information, which will be run at seven furlongs, and the Royal Delta, a slightly longer race at 1 1/16 miles.
Torn between training Wonder Gal up to next month’s Grade 2 Gazelle or squeezing a race in before then, trainer Leah Gyarmati opted for the latter. Thus Wonder Gal, placed in three graded stakes last year, will commence her 3-year-old season Friday in a first-level allowance for New York-bred fillies at Aqueduct.
