OZONE PARK, N.Y. – New York-bred millionaires My Mane Squeeze and Sterling Silver look to pad their résumés when they head a large field of fillies and mares entered in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian Stakes going one mile at Aqueduct.
Eleven females were entered in the Ruffian, but trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said he planned to scratch both Dazzling Move and Claret Beret while running Here’s the Kicker.
Monmouth Park, the famed track on the Jersey Shore, launches a 50-day 2025 race meet Saturday.
The track will race two days per week, Saturday and Sunday, until mid-June, when Fridays are added. Even a limited schedule would be difficult to imagine without the $10 million purse subsidy Monmouth annually receives from state government coffers. Last year, a state law passed automatically renewing a $20 million subsidy, split between Thoroughbred and Standardbred purses, through 2029.
Missouri is moving another step closer to live sports betting.
The sportsbook license application process opens the week of May 12, allowing operators to submit claims to serve as one of the Show Me State’s regulated online sports betting sites.
The Missouri Gaming Commission’s website states that sports betting applications will be available starting May 15.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The Peter Pan Stakes is traditionally a race horsemen run in with hopes of getting to the Belmont Stakes.
Rick Dutrow, trainer of probable Peter Pan favorite Captain Cook, is not looking that far ahead. After a fourth-place finish in the Wood Memorial dashed his hopes of getting to the Kentucky Derby, Dutrow was just looking for the next viable spot for Captain Cook, who did win the listed Withers Stakes here in February. Dutrow thought about cutting back in distance, but opted for this 1 1/8-mile race instead.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In his last few ventures outside of Southern California, Anarchist has run into some very tough customers and acquitted himself quite well.
In the summer of 2023, Anarchist came to Belmont Park for the Grade 2 True North where he finished second to Elite Power, the 2022 champion sprinter who would win that title again in 2023. Last fall, Anarchist traveled to South Korea where he finished third behind Japan’s top sprinter Remake in the $1.4 million Korea Sprint.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Far Bridge looks like a standout in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Man o’ War Stakes, a field that came up so light it is carded as the second race on an 11-race program at Aqueduct that has four other stakes on it.
Far Bridge, a 5-year-old son of English Channel trained by Christophe Clement for LSU Stables, is a three-time Grade 1 winner and is guaranteed to surpass the $2 million mark in career earnings regardless of where he finishes Saturday in the 1 3/8-mile turf marathon.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Air Force Red leads a squadron of veterans racing six furlongs on turf in the $100,000 Siren Lure Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita. The listed stakes, which is the second leg of a pick six with a $67,674 carryover, has a geriatric feel.
The top four choices are 7-years-old, an age at which many horses lose a step. Air Force Red is as good as ever.
Many Maryland residents view the upcoming two-week meet at Pimlico Race Course as an opportunity to promote racing to new, younger audiences. Through a partnership with the National Thoroughbred League, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will lead the charge on Saturday.
Remember the $300,000 Limestone Stakes about a month ago at Keeneland? They’re all but running it back Saturday at Churchill Downs.
The first six across the finish line plus the eighth- and 10th-place finishers from the Limestone are entered in the Grade 3, $225,000 Mamzelle Stakes. So are a bunch of other 3-year-old filly turf sprinters, 17 in all, 14 of whom are allowed into the Churchill starting gate. A field that bulky with a relatively short run to the 5 1/2-furlong Mamzelle’s turn means luck plays a major part in the Mamzelle.
