Nancy Alberts, 65, best known as the trainer, owner, breeder, and exercise rider for 2002 Preakness Stakes runner-up Magic Weisner, died late Tuesday night at Georgetown Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke on April 17.
Though Flashpoint has enough graded stakes earnings ($140,000) to put him 22nd on the list of Kentucky Derby hopefuls - meaning he would need just two defections to get into the 20-horse Derby field - owner John Fort said Friday that his lightly-raced 3-year-old is being pointed to the Preakness at Pimlico on May 21.
The top three finishers from last Saturday’s Jerome Stakes all appear headed in different directions. The winner, Adios Charlie, is likely to make his next start in the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont on May 14. Astrology, the runner-up, is being considered for the Preakness at Pimlico on May 21, while third-place finisher Justin Phillip is being pointed to the Woody Stephens here on June 11.
Astrology's stepping-stone to the Preakness is Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct where he figures to be a solid favorite against seven rivals.
Mr. Commons, third in the Santa Anita Derby on April 9, may start in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 21, trainer John Shirreffs said.
The marquee meet of Maryland’s racing season begins Friday, when Pimlico opens for eight weeks, culiminating with the closing-day $1 million Preakness Stakes.
A significant purse boost for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and the return of the Grade 3 Allaire du Pont Distaff are the two biggest changes on the proposed spring stakes schedule at Pimlico.
Golden Gate Fields has yet to finalize its 2010 fall meet stakes schedule or its 2011 schedule, but has already set Feb. 12, 2011, as the date for the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby.
The winner of the 2011 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland will earn a $5 million bonus if the horse has also won a series of Triple Crown prep races at tracks also owned by Pimlico’s parent company, MI Developments, the company announced on Friday.
