It’s a big week for the Pennsylvania-bred program. Keystone State-bred hero Smarty Jones, winner of the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Aug. 1 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Back home in Pennsylvania, the week begins with Monday’s $75,000 Princess of Sylmar Stakes for Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares at Presque Isle Downs.
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is giving handicappers quite the puzzle in the fourth race Sunday at Gulfstream Park, a $70,000 maiden special weight for juvenile fillies. The trainer has entered two first-time starters – Mystical Belle and Rileytole – in an inexperienced field of eight and said he expects strong performances from both.
Joseph’s fillies have not had much time to interact ahead of their first starts, as Mystical Belle has trained at Gulfstream while Rileytole has been prepared at the Palm Meadows training center.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Go Kart Mozart goes for his fourth win in a row while switching to Woodbine’s main turf in Sunday’s $100,000 Lake Superior, one of two six-furlong grass stakes for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds on the card, along with the $100,000 Thunder Bay.
Only seven US states offer legal online casinos markets. That number could grow by two in the near future.
Massachusetts and Virginia seem poised to expand their gambling portfolios to include iGaming.
Massachusetts is considering a pair of bills, Senate Bill 235 and House Bill 332, both of which would legalize online casinos. However, there is still work to be done before the legislative session ends on Nov. 19.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Ewing was back on the work tab Thursday for the first time since launching his career with a sensational 12-length maiden special weight victory here earlier this month, breezing four furlongs over the main track in 48.64 seconds. Trainer Mark Casse implored his rider via walkie-talkie to slow the speedy 2-year-old down throughout the work.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Donegal Momentum, who stumbled badly yet did complete the course in the Grade 3 Kelso Stakes on July 3, will not run in the Grade 1 Fourstardave on Aug. 2, trainer Tom Morley said earlier this week.
Morley said that Donegal Momentum pulled a gluteal muscle on his right side as the result of the incident, of which he’s unclear what happened. Morley shipped Donegal Momentum back to Belmont Park to train as he believes the training track there “is a bit kinder on the horses.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Sovereignty is not the only Grade 1-winning horse trainer Bill Mott will be running on Saturday’s card at Saratoga.
Arthur’s Ride, winner of last summer’s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes here, returns from a nine-month layoff in a multi-conditioned allowance going 1 1/8 miles in race 4 on Saturday’s 12-race card. It will be Arthur’s Ride’s first race since he finished 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
Scarlet Sands, a 3-year-old filly trained by Carlos David, will switch to synthetic for her stakes debut in the $75,000 Miss Gracie Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. She will be one of several contenders with questions to answer over the surface.
“She’s a 3-year-old in a 3-year-old fillies stakes,” David said. “It makes sense. I know it’s on the Tapeta, but I don’t why she won’t handle it.”
Perry Wayne Ouzts continues to set longevity milestones, and the jockey, who has been riding professionally for more than half a century, will eye another this weekend. Ouzts, who turned 71 on July 7, is in sight of surpassing Russell Baze’s record number of career starts, 53,578.
“I don’t think anybody can ever imagine that,” Ouzts said of his ongoing career.
