Kim Rinker and the late Barry Lefkowitz were selected as the two candidates advancing to this summer's balloting for the Communicators Hall Of Fame, as determined during the Saturday directors meeting of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA).
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Recently I wrote about the unbelievable success Dan Noble was seeing as a driver at Northfield Park. At one point I made a parallel between Noble and Walter Case Jr., who similarly dominated the driver standings at Yonkers Raceway in the late 1990s. The comparison sparked another previous thought that went through my head a number of months ago.
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When I trained horses as an all-knowing 20-year-old in the late 1970s, I knew I had to do something to persuade owners to give me a chance. So, while established trainers were charging $15 a day (and some of the top guys had the nerve to charge $18), I charged $12 and typically owned at least a quarter of every horse. I was working alone and while I had to pay the occasional race day paddock ($20), I got by. When the barn expanded and I had to hire a groom or two, they got paid cash under the table. There was no Workman's Compensation insurance or taxes to deal with. It was the norm at the time and I am pretty sure the statute of limitations has run out.
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Winning for the fifth time, Gratefully set the pace in the restricted Wishing Well Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs on turf and held off a sustained threat from the British import Saratoga Special to win by a head.
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Touchdown Arkansas became a stakes winner Saturday, when he put in a determined stretch run for a three-quarter-length victory over Cybertown in the $150,000 Nodouble Breeders’ Stakes at Oaklawn Park. It was another three-quarters of a length back in third to Bohemian Bo.
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field of 11 3-year-olds has been entered for next Saturday’s $425,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, an important stepping-stone on the Kentucky Derby trail and final major prep for the $1 million Florida Derby on March 28. The 1 1/16-mile fixture goes as the finale on a 14-race card that kicks off at 11:30 a.m.
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Blackout Time was made the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of 10 for the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel when posts for next Sunday’s race were drawn on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
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Jack’s Promise made his stakes debut a winning one and did so in convincing fashion Saturday, registering a convincing three-length victory over the slow-starting and odds-on favorite Damon’s Mound in the $125,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint.
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Taj Mahal looked every bit a wonder in the $100,000 Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday, winning his second career start like a seasoned professional over even-money favorite Let’s Go Lando. Trainer Brittany Russell’s profound confidence in the precocious colt certainly seems justified now.
David Aragona's TimeformUS Highlight Horse for Sunday, February 22, At Aqueduct.
