Sanguinetti off to good start

Thlstledown completed its first week of racing Monday, and after five programs, Weldon Cloninger Jr. leads the jockeys' race with eight winners. In close pursuit is Anne Sanguinetti with six.

Sanguinetti had an interesting off season, which included a stop in Dubai.

"I spent three weeks in Dubai as the exercise rider for trainer Wesley Ward's Esperamos," said Sanguinetti. "He finished sixth in the Golden Shaheen but still earned $40,000. I had a ball over there. It was amazing. I never spent a cent until I was ready to come home and bought $200 worth of souvenirs."

Sanguinetti rides for trainer Burton Sipp, who leads the standings with five wins. Jeff Radosevich is second with four wins.

* Pyrite Stable's Pay the Man won the Angenora Stakes for the second straight year last Friday. She finished two lengths in front of her stablemate Formal Arrangement. The victory was welcome medicine for trainer Angelo Feliciano who suffered a stroke March 16 while training at Tampa Bay Downs.

"I was in the hospital but after four days I went back to work," Feliciano said. "I've lost 19 pounds. That's it. I'm fine now."

Feliciano has a string of 40 horses, including top contenders in the Ohio-bred stakes divisions.

* Randy Wilson, 58, is back for his 39th year of riding at Thistledown and is as fit as he's ever been. "I weigh 115 pounds, that's less than when I started," he said.

* One of the largest crowds in many years showed up on Kentucky Derby Day. Admission was free, but the attendance was estimated between 12,000 and 14,000.