DEL MAR, Calif. – The complexion of the Grade 2, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup on Friday at Del Mar changed markedly Thursday when both Prime Attraction and Infobedad were scratched, and the filly Lottie officially became part of the field when she was withdrawn from Thursday’s Red Carpet.
All those moves resulted in a field of seven for the 1 1/2-mile Hollywood Turf Cup.
Jockey Richard Eramia reached 2,000 wins in North America on Monday, when he guided Conquest Hiosilver to victory in the eighth race at Remington Park.
Eramia rode in South America for 10 years prior to coming to the United States in 2005. He won the national riding title five times in his native Uruguay. Eramia’s first mounts in North America came at Tampa Bay Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 20th year of Churchill Downs offering parimutuel futures on the Kentucky Derby starts Thursday when the first of four pools toward the 2018 Derby opens at noon Eastern.
The usual parameters apply: 23 separately listed wagering interests, along with a mutuel field that has closed as the Pool 1 favorite every year since Churchill first unveiled the Kentucky Derby Future Wager in 1999. Win and exacta wagering are available, with odds and will-pays locked in only when the pool closes Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern following four days of wagering.
The $250,000 Comely, the richest of three stakes on the Friday card at Aqueduct, attracted a field of nine when the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies was drawn Sunday.
Miss Sky Warrior, who is undefeated in three starts over the Aqueduct main track, will try to bounce back from a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm on Oct. 28 at Belmont Park. Miss Sky Warrior was making her first start since the Kentucky Oaks in that race.
Sunday racing at Aqueduct was canceled at 9 a.m. due to high winds in the New York area.
The AccuWeather forecast for South Ozone Park, Queens, calls for winds at close to 30 miles per hour and gusts up to 50. Rain and drizzle are possible.
Temperatures are expected to be in the mid to high 50s.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The New York Racing Association will race 229 live dates in 2018, five fewer than were approved for this year.
The premier meet of the season, Saratoga, will stay at 40 days. Racing will be held on a six-days-a-week schedule from July 20 through Labor Day, Sept. 3, with Tuesdays dark.
The Belmont spring /summer and fall meets also will have the same number of dates. The spring meet will have 54 programs and the fall meet will be 36 days.
The Aqueduct winter/spring meet will begin Jan. 1 and continue through April 22.
Pat Lang, who endeared himself to countless horsemen as the track photographer at racetracks in Kentucky and Ohio, died Friday from complications of lung cancer. He was 65.
Lang retired in May 2014 after more than 30 years of taking action shots and winner’s circle pictures at Turfway Park, Keeneland, and River Downs. Among the horses he photographed were Kentucky Derby winners Spend a Buck, Alysheba, Winning Colors, Silver Charm, Animal Kingdom, and Street Sense.
Caesars Entertainment, the sprawling casino company with a stake in a number of racetracks in the U.S., has reached an agreement to buy Centaur Gaming Inc., the owner and operator of the two racetrack-casinos in Indiana, the companies announced Thursday.
Danny Gargan and the Midwest Thoroughbreds stable of Richard Papiese are splitting up after 2 1/2 years together. Gargan's last two starters for Papiese will be Wednesday at Aqueduct.
Gargan, 46, trains Papiese's New York string. Papiese employs trainers in different regions of the country, including Roger Brueggerman, Tom Amoss, and Armando De la Cerda.
The 14 horses Papiese has with Gargan will be transferred to trainer Steve Asmussen, according to Gargan.
At the heart of the controversy surrounding the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, which has held up the distribution of purses pending an investigation, is a rule change. But first, you need to understand something about the BCBC and why it was invented.
Ken Kirchner, who was the founder of the BCBC and a wagering consultant for the event from 2009-15, explained, “The purpose of the tournament is to have players bet. The whole point of the BCBC was not just to reward horseplayers with the biggest live-money tournament in racing … it was also to drive parimutuel handle.”
