With a filly as good as Top Decile might prove to be, a horseman might skip the first round of 3-year-old stakes during January at Fair Grounds and await the more lucrative and important second round in February.
It’s opening day at Oaklawn Park, Take 2. A week after freezing temperatures led to the cancellation of Oaklawn’s opening weekend, the historic track is set to launch its 111th season Thursday. The forecast is favorable, entries are overflowing, and the corned beef is cooked.
United Color and Reynaldothewizard, third and fourth in the $2 million Golden Shaheen sprint last March, meet for the first time since that race in Thursday’s $150,000 Dubawi Stakes over six furlongs at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
This weekend, jockey Drayden Van Dyke will have near-constant reminders of the changes and milestones in his brief riding career.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will be presented the findings of an investigation into trainer Steve Asmussen during a closed-door executive session of a commission meeting Thursday, the executive director of the commission said Tuesday.
Multiple group stakes winner Up, whose page combined two popular commercial sires, and her first foal created long-awaited fireworks during Tuesday’s second session of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale Tuesday in Lexington, Ky. The broodmare sold for $2.2 million to RanJan Stable, while her newly-turned yearling War Front filly fetched $800,000 to Ellen J. Foxwood.
Maryland racing is at a tipping point. Betting handle has been in decline for years and the outdated facilities of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course lack the amenities needed to draw and retain customers.
Niassa may be the local favorite in the Feb. 7 California Oaks after a nine-length victory in a one-mile optional claimer here last Thursday.
The top four finishers in last month’s one-mile Gold Rush Stakes – Stand and Salute, Broughton Kitten, Sandor the Hound, and Rye Patch – are expected to hook up again in Saturday’s $100,000 California Derby at 1 1/16 miles.
Bench Warrant’s run on the Triple Crown trail largely ended with a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity last month. The new goal of focusing on sprints begins with an optional claimer for 3-year-olds on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Thursday.
