Record all-sources wagering and purse payouts once again were established at the five-day Runhappy meet that ended Thursday at turf-only Kentucky Downs in south-central Kentucky.
Betting totaled $41,239,699, up 13 percent over the former record of $36.4 million set during the five-day 2018 meet, when a cancellation moved a Sunday card to a Wednesday. There were no cancellations or weather issues this year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bret Calhoun said Mr. Money has been so eager in his training toward the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby next Saturday that he skipped a final pre-race work with the colt Friday morning at Churchill.
Instead, Mr. Money went a “two-minute lick,” getting a mile in an unofficial 1:52 and change, according to Calhoun.
Mr. Money worked five furlongs in 58.20 seconds on Sept. 5.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Serengeti Empress hasn’t raced around two turns since her front-running victory in the Kentucky Oaks. So when the filly leaves Churchill Downs this week for the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Racing, her trainer wants her in the proper frame of mind.
“My main concern is she’s not in sprint mode in her head,” said Tom Amoss. “And I don’t think she is.”
After finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint last Saturday, Stormy Liberal may run in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at five furlongs on turf at Santa Anita on Sept. 27, trainer Peter Miller said. The $200,000 Eddie D Stakes is a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, a race Stormy Liberal won at Del Mar in 2017 and at Churchill Downs last November. Stormy Liberal was voted champion turf horse of 2018.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Friday’s optional $85,000 claiming feature might not have been trainer Gary Contessa’s first option for his speedy mare Filibustin. Nor was it likely his second or third choice, either.
But now that she’s in the six-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares, Contessa is excited at the prospect of finally trying to give Filibustin the opportunity to see what she can do on the grass.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Anyone trying to find options other than from the barns of trainers Christophe Clement and Chad Brown in Saturday’s $200,000 Pebbles Stakes will find them few and far between. In fact, there were only three when entries were drawn Wednesday for the one-mile fixture for 3-year-old fillies – Eyeinthesky, Passing Out, and Alasaayil. Clement and Brown each has a pair in the race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The filly Got Stormy has been tabbed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the 23rd running of the $1 million Woodbine Mile on Saturday, when she will try to give trainer Mark Casse his third win in the Grade 1 fixture.
Got Stormy had a Saratoga to remember. A week after taking the De La Rose Stakes on Aug. 3, she beat the boys in course-record time in the Grade 1 Fourstardave, earning a 108 Beyer Speed Figure.
Casse won the 2016 Woodbine Mile with the brilliant mare Tepin. He said Got Stormy is nearly in the same ballpark as Tepin.
CYPRESS, Calif. – A celebration of life will be held Sept. 30 at Los Alamitos for California steward George Slender, who died after an illness on Aug. 26 in Rancho Santa Fe., Calif.
Slender was 85 and had been retired from his position as a steward since late 2015.
A native of Santa Rosa, Calif., Slender was an accomplished athlete in his youth, attending the University of Oregon on a football scholarship. He later played minor league baseball. Slender served in the Army after being drafted. He was discharged in 1958 and began to train horses and work on the gate crew.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Last weekend at Los Alamitos, jockey Abel Cedillo was winless with 11 mounts, the first time he went a racing weekend without a victory since late July.
Cedillo is in the midst of an outstanding first summer in Southern California. At the Del Mar summer meeting, his first full season there, Cedillo finished third in the jockey standings with 25 wins, behind leader Flavien Prat (42) and Drayden Van Dyke (32).
With Kentucky Downs sure to set wagering records again at its five-day meet, which ends Thursday, officials at the turf-only track in south-central Kentucky have requested two additional dates from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for its 2020 meet.
“We have the purse money, we have the growth,” said Ted Nicholson, the track’s senior vice president and general manager. “We’re constantly getting asked, why aren’t we running seven days? It does lend itself to the obvious. At some point this has to happen, and next year is where we feel it should start.”
