In a year of widespread change in Northern California racing, five weeks of racing begins at Fresno on Friday, a departure from the two-week seasons held for decades in conjunction with the county fair in early October.
With the permanent closure of Golden Gate Fields in June, additional racing at Fresno was added to the Northern California calendar to fill a void. In past years, Golden Gate Fields held a race meeting from late August through September.
Remember when favorites won a typical 33 percent of Southern California dirt races and a 43 percent win rate by Los Alamitos favorites during all-dirt September meets seemed extreme? Those were good times.
But dirt races unexpectedly have become far more predictable in California, not just at Los Alamitos. It happened this season at Del Mar and Santa Anita, where favorites won 43 percent on dirt – Del Mar summer (66 of 152) and Santa Anita winter-spring combined (145 of 334).
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – British Artillery seems ready to fire his best shot in Friday’s eighth race at Woodbine as he gets some class relief in the nonwinners-of-two event. Scheduled for a mile on the inner turf, it combines Ontario-sired allowance stock with $40,000 claimers, and British Artillery is one of seven in the nine-horse field competing with the $40,000 tag.
Roll Dem Bones and Mr. Fireball are scheduled to square off for the fifth consecutive time in Friday’s $10,000 claiming feature over 6 1/2 furlongs at Emerald Downs.
It seldom happens outside of stakes competition that two or more runners face each other as many as five times in a row. A major reason for this occurrence was the Hollywood Harbor Sprint Series, which included three legs with purses steadily increasing and participation allowed only for those who had competed in the previous leg.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Maxfield was a breakout success during Book 1 of the Keeneland September yearling sale, with a pair of $1 million yearlings putting him in company with some of the nation’s elite sires.
All four of young Darley sire Maxfield’s yearlings sent to the ring in Book 1 sold, for an average of $706,250. That placed the son of Street Sense third behind classic sires Curlin and Gun Runner by average price, among stallions with three or more sold.
Horse of the Year honorees and Hall of Fame members Gun Runner and Curlin are now classic sires who rank among America’s best, and they led Keeneland September’s best, the Book 1 portion, by sales this week.
Gun Runner, who stands at Three Chimneys Farm, was represented by 24 yearlings sold during Book 1 for a total gross of $18,250,000. Curlin, of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, had 20 sold for $16,755,000. His average price was $837,750 – edging out Gun Runner’s $760,417.
Kentucky Downs, with purses that have gone through the roof, is a tough act to follow, but Churchill Downs can hold its own.
A brief 14-day stand bridging Kentucky Downs and Keeneland begins Thursday, and while the money being given away isn’t quite as staggering as Kentucky Downs, which runs just seven days per year, Churchill has plenty to offer.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Mike Pegram had seen this before, four other times to be exact. He insisted that it never gets old.
A win in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity is the perfect way to end a summer.
On Sunday, Pegram was in the winner’s circle with racing partners Paul Weitman and Karl Watson after Gaming ($9.80) stormed to the lead in early stretch to win the $301,000 race at seven furlongs by 1 3/4 lengths over McKinzie Street.
“He’s the real deal,” a beaming Pegram said.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar completed its 31-day summer meeting with a decline in handle compared to the corresponding meeting in 2023.
According to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form, total commingled handle on the Del Mar races was $360,944,231, a decline of 7.8 percent from a handle of $391,819,361 at a 30-day meeting last year. The 2022 summer meeting had handle of $439,674,337 on Del Mar’s races.
