Trainer Claudio Gonzalez and jockey Trevor McCarthy dominated their respective divisions at the 46-day Laurel Park winter meet, which began New Year's Day and ended Sunday.
Gonzalez, 42, was the winningest trainer in Maryland in both 2017 and 2018. He won 40 races at the winter meet, 25 more than runner-up Hugh McMahon.
Damon Dilodovico, Jeremiah Englehart, and Jamie Ness tied for third with 12 wins each.
Jockey Manny Franco and trainer Linda Rice scored clear-cut victories in their respective divisions at the 63-day Aqueduct winter meet, which kicked off Dec. 7 and concluded Sunday.
This is the second straight year that Franco topped the winter meet. He also won the 2018 fall meet title and led all New York riders by wins last year.
He won 98 races at this year's session to best runner-up Junior Alvarado by 28 victories. Dylan Davis finished third with 55 wins, one more than fourth-place Jose Lezcano.
For the third straight week, there were no winning tickets in the pick six at Aqueduct on either Saturday or Sunday. There will be a two-day carryover of $75,958 into the Friday card.
There also is a carryover of $46,622 in the NYRA Bets Pick 5.
Friday is opening day of the Aqueduct spring meet. The feature race will be the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Handicap, and the first two turf races of the year are carded.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Six horses trained by William Morey were scratched at Santa Anita from Friday through Sunday.
Friday, three horses trained by Morey were withdrawn approximately 30 minutes before post time for the first race because of a medication issue, track stewards said. The stewards did not provide further details.
Morey had one horse entered on Saturday and two on Sunday, but all three were withdrawn. At Golden Gate Fields, Morey had two horses scratched on both Saturday and Sunday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Victor Espinoza wore a familiar set of colors to victory aboard St. Joe Bay in Saturday’s Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita – the dark green and white silks of owners Pete and Kosta Hronis. The victory was Espinoza’s first since returning to riding in February from a severe injury sustained last summer.
In the last few years, Espinoza has won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita aboard Accelerate, and the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Stellar Wind, two champions owned by Hronis Racing.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Champagne Anyone, the half-length winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, was scheduled to arrive Wednesday at Churchill Downs, where she will continue preparations for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks on May 3.
Trainer Ian Wilkes said everything was “all good” Sunday morning with Champagne Anyone, who showed a new dimension by laying close to the pace Saturday, then holding off a late bid from race favorite Dunbar Road.
INDIANTOWN, Fla. – There was little time for trainer Bill Mott to wallow in the disappointment that was Hidden Scroll’s sixth-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 1 Florida Derby.
Twelve hours after one of his horses stepped off the Kentucky Derby trail, Mott watched another, Tacitus, put in his final workout for next Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Extra Hope, Roadster, and Synthesis – half the probable starters for Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby – had their final prerace workouts on Sunday.
Roadster, who won an allowance race with an $80,000 claiming option at a mile in his 3-year-old debut on March 1, worked six furlongs in 1:12.60, the fastest of 19 works at the distance. The time was quicker than Roadster’s preceding workout – six furlongs in 1:14 – on March 26.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jason Servis said all was well Sunday morning with his undefeated Florida Derby winner, Maximum Security, who earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his relatively easy, wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 1 fixture here Saturday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – With new guidelines in place designed to enhance safety, racing returned to Santa Anita on Friday for the first time since March 3 with the completion of an eight-race program.
The races were run safely to the relief of track officials and participants who were eager to resume racing after a series of equine fatalities since late December that led to the cancellation of 13 racing days for most of March.
