Delaware Park canceled its opening day card on Wednesday due to inclement weather. Though all eight races were scheduled for the dirt, consistent rain in the region was deemed a hazard for horses and riders.
"Due to unsafe track conditions caused by the inclement weather, Delaware Park has cancelled the Opening Day live racing card scheduled for today," a press release from the track read.
While saying he wasn’t disappointed that Sovereignty was not running in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, Michael McCarthy, trainer of Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism, said he’d look forward to a rematch at some point in the future.
“Hopefully, Journalism stays healthy and Sovereignty stays healthy, and somewhere down the road, we get to hook up,” McCarthy said. “I think it’d be great for the fans, really great for the sport.”
McCarthy said it’s possible Journalism could run back June 7 at Saratoga in the Belmont Stakes, the race Sovereignty is targeting.
BALTIMORE – Different venue, same surface.
The sloppy track that was in play for the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago at Churchill Downs has greeted horsemen this week at Pimlico as preparations continued Wednesday morning toward Saturday’s 150th Preakness.
Led by Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism, seven of the nine horses entered in the Preakness were on the main track Wednesday morning at Pimlico, most going at a controlled pace over an extremely wet surface.
On Tuesday, the Louisiana Racing Commission awarded traditional racing dates to Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans despite a warning from an official of the track’s parent company, Churchill Downs Inc., that the track was “unable and unwilling” to commit to a meet without legislative help.
BALTIMORE – Journalism, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, drew post 2 and was installed as the strong favorite in a field of nine entered Monday for Saturday’s 150th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
Pimlico linemaker Dan Illman made Journalism the 8-5 favorite, while Daily Racing Form’s David Aragona pegged Journalism as the 6-5 choice. Journalism was the 3-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby, finishing second by 1 1/2 lengths to Sovereignty.
Could he have won? At least finished in the top 4? No one ever will know how Burnham Square would have fared in the Kentucky Derby had he not been checked hard before the far turn, dropping back from a favorable spot on the rail to an impossible spot back on his heels before rallying again – gamely, after all chance had been lost – for sixth.
“He was in a great position. Brian [Hernandez Jr.] was ready to let him ease into the race. He said he only had one horse to go around. We may have been on the lead turning for home. . .” trainer Ian Wilkes recalled.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After giving Rohan Crichton the first graded stakes victory of his training career with his convincing tally over Madaket Road in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard, it will be on to Saratoga and the Grade 1 Woody Stephens for the 3-year-old Florida-bred Macho Music.
Friday’s program at Santa Anita will begin with a carryover of $94,783 in the $2 pick six.
The bet covers races four through nine on a program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific.
Track officials project that the pool of new money will surpass $500,000.
Friday’s carryover was clinched in Sunday’s final race with an upset win by Miss Joe’s Curlin, who paid $24.20. Earlier in the sequence, pays ranged from a mere $2.20 on Miss Miche Lada in the fourth race to $53.20 on Tariff in the fifth race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jody’s Pride, winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes will be pointed to the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 23, trainer Jorge Abreu said Sunday.
Abreu pointed to how well Jody’s Pride runs fresh, which is why he is planning to skip races like the Bed o’ Roses on June 6 and Honorable Miss on July 20.
“She runs better fresh, [Saturday] she ran a hard race,” Abreu said. “She came out of the race in good shape.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York-bred Whatchatalkinabout, winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 John Nerud Stakes, could be headed west for his next start, that being the Grade 1, $400,000 Bing Crosby at Del Mar on July 26.
Trainer Wesley Ward said the combination of the Bing Crosby being six furlongs, the 11 weeks between races, and the fact he has another top sprinter, Nakatomi, pointed to the sprint stakes this summer at Saratoga are the reasons he’s looking at the Bing Crosby for Whatchatalkinabout.
