Weekend stakes looking strong

Nine 3-year-olds, headed by the stakes winner G. G. Ryder, were nominated for Saturday’s Roger Dupret Derby at Santa Rosa. Fourteen runners, headed by Pepper Crown, Summer Hit, and Hudson Landing – the top three finishers in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields – were nominated to the Joseph T. Grace on Sunday.

Both $50,000-added stakes cover 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Sacramento business

Average daily wagering on live races at the seven-day state fair in Sacramento showed a healthy 11.7 percent increase compared with last year. Fans wagered an average of $200,564 daily on the live races at Sacramento, compared with $179,579 during 2013’s eight-day meet.

The daily all-sources handle, including advance-deposit wagering and out-of-state wagering, dipped 6.8 percent on average, from $878,112 in 2013 to $818,033 this year.

Lost in the Fog remembered

Eclipse Award winner Lost in the Fog, whose career was cut short by cancer at age 4, is being remembered at the Sonoma County Fair.

His trainer, Greg Gilchrist, has lent some of his trophies, saddle cloths, photos, and other memorabilia to Pam Berg, who runs the Glen Ellen Vocational Academy, Northern California’s only retirement facility for Thoroughbreds. The Lost in the Fog display as well as information about the nonprofit GEVA can be seen Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays on the grandstand apron near the paddock.

Venus and Serena of mules

Think of racing mules Bar JF Hot Ticket and Bar JF Red Ticket as the tennis-playing sisters Venus and Serena Williams. The Tickets are full sisters. Hot is 11; Red is 9. Like Venus, the older Hot dominated her baby sister early, only to find the tables turned later.

On Sunday, the two met again at Santa Rosa, and for the second straight time, Hot pulled off an upset over her younger sister.

Running for the 75th time in her career, Bar JF Hot Ticket scored her 50th victory. Her $3,900 in earnings lifted her lifetime total to $240,977. In addition to 50 wins, she has 16 seconds, mostly to her younger sister, as well as four thirds and has hit the board in 70 of 75 starts.

Hot Ticket’s career seemed on a downward arc last year, when she had only 1 win in 9 starts, while Red Ticket had 9 wins and 2 seconds in 11 starts last year, never losing to her older sister.

Red Ticket opened the 2014 campaign with a two-length victory over Hot Ticket at Pleasanton, but Hot Ticket reversed the outcome with a 2 1/4-length victory at Sacramento before Sunday’s one-length win.

“She’s her old self,” said Hot Ticket’s owner-breeder, Dave Wood.

Ray Thomas, Hot’s longtime trainer, said a stifle injury suffered when Hot flipped in the gate at Sacramento in 2012 led to last year’s disappointing season.