ELMONT, N.Y. - John Velazquez carried his own fireworks over the July 4 weekend, riding Left Bank to win the $150,000 Tom Fool, E Dubai to win the $500,000 Suburban, Carson Hollow to win the $200,000 Prioress, and Gygistar to win the $150,000 Dwyer. He leads all riders at the prestigious Belmont Park spring meeting and is high up in the national standings with more than $6 million in purses won.
MIAMI - Okay, so there wasn't exactly a brass band waiting on the tarmac at Opa Locka Airport, or a ticker tape parade down N.W. 27th Ave. to the entrance gates of Calder Race Course. Apparently, the mayor of Miami was otherwise occupied, and all the news choppers were grounded, because of a big black cloud on the western horizon.
ELMONT, N.Y. - It wasn't picture perfect, but a win is a win.
Can Gygistar, owned by Edward Evans, stay a distance and, at season's end, take his place with the leaders of the 3-year-old division? He won Sunday's $150,000 Dwyer at 1 1/16 miles to boost his trainer, Mark Hennig, among the top 10 in the national standings with purse winnings of more than $3.3 million. But Hennig needs more convincing, and indicates he may seek it in Saratoga's $500,000 Jim Dandy at nine furlongs on Aug. 4.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The first running of the American Oaks last Saturday was a barn-burner, a stampede, a head-banging mosh pit of energetic young fillies hard at work. The 14 runners, convening from far and wide, deserved double rations that night for the show they put on that day.
It's just too bad the people got in the way.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Saturday's running of the Triple Bend Handicap came and went without an appearance from the defending champion. He was missed.
While Kona Gold, Mellow Fellow, and Full Moon Madness prepared to take the stage in Hollywood's best sprint, Ceeband was lounging around his stall at Cooper Ranch in Hemet, leafing through travel brochures and planning his retirement, or perhaps a second career.
Fans will miss Ceeband's big white mug and his dramatics in the stretch. If conditions were right and the pace was fair, they knew Ceeband would be there for a piece.
In 1984, the Breeders' Cup immediately revolutionized year-end championship racing in the United States. Only now, 18 years later, does it seem positioned to have a similarly dramatic effect on the months of top-flight racing leading up to it.
The Cup has of course already had a significant influence on summer and fall racing. Potential Cup horses are handled differently with the goal of having them fresh and peaking at the end of October. Fixtures on the racing calendar that once were year-long targets now serve as final preps for the main event.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It takes a lot of luck to produce a hit. What if nobody cares? What if the reviews are cool? What if the money runs out, the backers split, or the thing is a total flop? Not every show can be "Springtime for Hitler."
On Saturday afternoon, under bright blue holiday skies, the curtain will go up on the first running of the $500,000 American Oaks at Hollywood Park. A full gate of 14 fillies, all of them 3 years old, is advertised, which is enough to raise eyebrows from the start.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Racetracks will be trotting out all manner of celebratory events for the Fourth of July holiday. Hollywood Park offers the American Handicap. Churchill Downs features the Firecracker. In Chicago, there is the Stars and Stripes, while Belmont Park will renew the Tom Fool.
Tom Fool?
In fact, there is no better way to honor the day. Tom Fool was a red-blooded, true-blue, all-American racehorse who could be counted on time and time again.