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Del Mar adjusts purse structure for juvenile maiden races
Del Mar has altered the conditions of maiden races on dirt for 2-year-olds for its summer meeting to allow horses from all stables to run for maximum prize money.
Steve AndersenFeb 04, 2026
Del Mar has altered the conditions of maiden races on dirt for 2-year-olds for its summer meeting to allow horses from all stables to run for maximum prize money.
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Older filly and mare turf specialists will take center stage Friday at Gulfstream Park, where a pair of top-level allowance and optional claiming events for the division highlight the afternoon's 10-race program.
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Few will recall a horse named Salvaje, a mare who never won a stakes race and whose last start came in November 2023. But bettors who elect to back favored Hey Bertie in the featured seventh race Friday at Fair Grounds should take heed of that name.
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Through Sunday, the most recent day of racing at Santa Anita, Kazushi Kimura was tied for the lead in the jockey standings with Juan Hernandez with 19 wins.
Handicappers will have to take another look at Friday's $150,000 Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct as the race lost one of its major players and may have picked up a significant newcomer. Maximus Meridius, last year's Toboggan winner, opted for a Wednesday allowance race at Parx and will scratch from the Toboggan. Meanwhile, the New York-bred Doc Sullivan showed up in the entries for the re-drawn race though his status is not yet finalized.
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Ottinho has a powerful pedigree and in his lone victory demonstrated serious determination. Whether he's able to join the upper crust of the 3-year-old division on the Triple Crown trail remains to be seen and likely won't be known even if he wins Friday's $200,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
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The small-field feature race Friday at Santa Anita includes one of the day's shortest prices, which prompted trainer Dean Pederson to say “I hope it's smart money.” So will bettors who view Our Moonlight as the most probable winner in a pick six that begins with a $52,045 carryover.
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Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Nearly
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Nearly opens as the 10-1 favorite on the Derby Watch Top 20 after a dominant 5 3/4-length victory last Saturday in the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park. He has now won three straight races after a head-scratching debut and will point to the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 28.
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One opponent horsemen often can't figure out how to defeat is Mother Nature. And thus, with Turfway Park losing seven cards due to a winter storm that upended life in much of Kentucky, and frigid air that blanketed the state in the aftermath, the $125,000 Wishing Well Stakes for female sprinters was pushed back from its original Jan. 24 date to Jan. 30 – and then again to Friday night, when it is expected to go with a field of 11, largely intact from the first draw.