Cole Norman, who was one of the winningest trainers in the Mid-South market of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, has died at 47, according to his longtime friend and former assistant, trainer Jorge Lara.
Lara said Norman, who was developing young horses at Hurricane Bluff, a training center in Benton, La., did not show up for work Monday. A friend went to check on Norman, and he was found dead. Lara said he was informed Monday afternoon and had talked with Norman last Saturday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mohaymen closed as the favorite in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager and Songbird was the heaviest favorite in the 14-year history of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager when pools closed Sunday following the customary three-day run.
Kentucky Derby-winning trainers Bob Baffert, Doug O’Neill, and Todd Pletcher will be frequent rivals on next Sunday’s richest day of racing at Sunland Park in New Mexico. The three conditioners have horses in both the $415,000 Sunland Park Festival of Racing Stakes and the $200,000 Plum Pretty.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Songbird was the 1-2 favorite for the Kentucky Oaks and Mohaymen the 3-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby after the first full day of betting into future wagers this weekend.
After Friday wagering, and on win handle of $42,816, Mohaymen was the lukewarm choice over Nyquist (5-1) in Derby Pool 3. The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, was 8-1, followed by Smokey Image (12-1), Suddenbreakingnews (13-1), and six more horses between 15-1 and 20-1. An additional $16,884 had been bet in exactas.
Former jockey and trainer Bill Mahorney, 75, died Thursday after contracting pneumonia.
Mahorney, who won the 1975 riding title at Golden Gate Fields after winning titles in Chicago and New York, began his career riding Quarter Horses. He switched to Thoroughbreds in 1965 and was that year’s leading apprentice by wins.
Mahorney severely injured both knees in a 1965 automobile accident and underwent numerous knee surgeries. He ultimately received an artificial knee and was able to continue his career.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Gary Sherlock said that when he bought Uncle Lino as a yearling, he took a shot on a colt who needed to grow up.
“He needed a couple of things to go right, and it did,” Sherlock said.
That’s also an apt description for Sherlock, who nearly died 20 years ago.
The brilliant female racehorses Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, both of whom were named Horse of the Year, top a star-studded final ballot for this year’s National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame that also includes Steve Asmussen, the trainer of Rachel Alexandra, and the accomplished jockeys Victor Espinoza, who won the Triple Crown on American Pharoah, and Ramon Dominguez.
Ten finalists were announced Wednesday by the Hall of Fame. Also making the final cut were the horses English Channel and Kona Gold, jockeys Garrett Gomez and Craig Perret, and trainer David Whiteley.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ten new names are among the 23 separately listed entries in the third pool in the 2016 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern and runs concurrent this weekend with the lone futures pool offered on the 2016 Kentucky Oaks.
