Delta Downs leading rider Timothy Thornton is closing out his best year on the track. He’s won 262 races from 1,000 mounts through Tuesday, which makes him one of the winningest riders in North America in 2018.
Thornton, along with Luis Quinones, trails only Irad Ortiz Jr., who had 322 wins on the year through Tuesday.
There’s a horse with a Cinderella story running in Friday night’s eighth race at Delta Downs: Mr. Al’s Gal.
She was a $1,000 purchase at auction as a yearling and has since won six stakes and earned $448,980. But, there are more layers to her tale.
Mr. Al’s Gal is named for the late father of her 35-year-old trainer, Justin Jeansonne. Al Jeansonne was a longtime owner and trainer who died in 2015.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Post positions were drawn Wednesday for Saturday’s 11-race all-stakes program, which will begin with six 2-year-old stakes and conclude with the five-race Clasico Internacional del Caribe program, topped by the $300,000 Clasico del Caribe. First post on Saturday is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A couple of horses with plenty of Grade 1 experience trying to get back to their best form –Breaking Lucky and Imperative – will help liven up Friday’s $48,000 main event at Gulfstream Park, a second-level allowance and optional-claiming race at a mile.
Joseph Scardino, a longtime horse owner who achieved his greatest success with 2016 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Obviously, died on Sunday. He was 86.
Scardino owned Obviously in partnership with Anthony Fanticola, who described Scardino as “a real horseman.”
“He loved horses,” Fanticola said. “He treated them well. He was the brains behind the outfit. He was my partner and best friend. He was like my brother. I’m going to miss him.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson and trainer Ian Black combined to win a memorable Queen’s Plate with Mike Fox in 2007. They have a prospect for next year’s Plate with another rail runner, Dun Drum, who was a thoroughly professional winner of last Saturday’s $100,000 Kingarvie Stakes.
Even though it’s an Ontario-sired event, the Kingarvie has produced several high-profile Canadian Triple Crown competitors over the years, most notably Amis Gizmo and Pender Harbour.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With an easy maiden win in his last start and leading trainer Jorge Navarro now directing his fortunes, Brasstown is liable to go postward the favorite in Thursday’s feature event at Gulfstream, a $47,000 optional-claiming race at 1 1/16 miles over the main track.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Maximus Mischief, impressive winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct, isn’t the only 3-year-old his owner, Cash is King Stable, will have stabled in South Florida this winter with an eye toward a possible start in the 2019 Kentucky Derby.
Cash is King also owns Lucky Lee, a son of Flatter who has won his last two starts by a combined 11 1/2 lengths, both going a mile at Parx Racing. The most recent effort came on Nov. 17, when Lucky Lee received an 88 Beyer Speed Figure.
The shortest race meeting of the year in Southern California begins at Los Alamitos on Thursday – a two-week season of eight racing days.
Los Alamitos conducts eight weeks of daytime Thoroughbred racing annually. The Los Angeles County Fair meeting in September is run over three weeks each year, while the summer meeting in early July and the winter meeting last two or three weeks.
The upcoming season is highlighted by two $300,000 Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday – the Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity and the Starlet for fillies.
Extra Hope followed an impressive win in a maiden special weight race at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Oct. 21 with a fourth in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 17.
Undeterred by the recent loss, trainer Richard Mandella and owner and breeder Samantha Siegel are planning a more difficult assignment for Extra Hope – Saturday’s Grade 1 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity at 1 1/16 miles.
The distance of the $300,000 Los Alamitos Futurity holds particular appeal for Mandella.
