ARCADIA, Calif. – California Chrome will always be the answer to a Hollywood Park trivia question: Name the track’s final stakes winner?
California Chrome ended his 2-year-old season on the last day of racing there on Dec. 22 with an emphatic victory in the $200,000 King Glorious Stakes. He romped away from nine rivals to win the seven-furlong race by more than six lengths.
The win was an ideal finish to 2013, but has left questions about what the colt can accomplish this winter at Santa Anita.
Last to Fire, winner of the $750,000 Champion at Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 14 and two other Grade 1 stakes last year, was named the 2013 Quarter Horse Racing World Champion in a ceremony at Heritage Place in Oklahoma City on Wednesday evening.
Last to Fire won 5 of 6 starts and earned $515,209 racing at Los Alamitos in 2013 for California owners Jesus Avila and Jesus Cuevas. A 4-year-old gelding in 2013, Last to Fire won the Vessels Maturity in July and the Go Man Go Handicap in September.
Lou Raffetto, the longtime racing executive who most recently was executive director of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, has been hired to be the president of a company that says it has launched the first North American account-wagering site in the Chinese language.
The site, YUPracing.com, was launched late last year to target Chinese gamblers in the United States. It is owned and operated by the Singpoli Group, a conglomerate that has offices in Southern California, and XpressBet, the account-wagering company owned by the Stronach Group, is processing the site’s bets.
Jed Doro, who spent the last six years as assistant racing secretary at Delaware Park, has been promoted to racing secretary.
Doro, 34, replaces Pat Pope, who last week accepted a job as racing secretary at Prairie Meadows.
Doro is currently the assistant director of Oaklawn Park. He will start his new position at Delaware when the Oaklawn meet ends in April. Doro previously worked at Laurel Park, Pimlico, and Colonial Downs.
Former trainer Brent Sumja has taken the contest world by storm. He dominated the NHC Tour this year, winning five tournaments and having competitive finishes in many more, both online and in person.
“It’s been said many times, ‘You don’t choose the tour, the tour chooses you,’ ” Sumja said, “And you don’t really understand those words until it happens to you.”
How did the tour choose him?
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Rick Violette currently has two top 3-year-old prospects in training at Palm Meadows, Financial Mogul and the undefeated Samraat, and for the time being has plotted different courses for the pair in hopes of achieving the same goal – getting into this year’s Kentucky Derby.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board approved a schedule Tuesday that would bring Thoroughbred racing to Detroit-area Standardbred venues Hazel Park Harness Raceway and Northville Downs.
The new schedule closely resembles the plan proposed by the tracks and the Michigan Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association in early December. Each of the harness tracks will host reduced 10-day Standardbred meets early in the year, with Northville running Fridays and Saturdays from March 7 to April 5, and Hazel Park running Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from April 12 to May 3.
Signups for the 2014 Daily Racing Form National Handicapping Championship Tour are now being accepted on the website of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
The DRF NHC Tour is a yearlong series offering $200,000 in additional prize money and 20 or more qualifying berths to the NHC. This year’s tour starts Monday and continues through Dec. 31. A tentative schedule of tournaments can be found at ntra.com/en/nhc/nhc-tour-schedule.
The 15th annual National Handicapping Championship will be held Friday through Sunday at the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas. Nearly 500 players will compete for $1.5 million in prize money. The winner will receive $750,000 and be crowned the 2014 Handicapper of the Year at next year’s Eclipse Awards.
