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.
Karl Broberg has horses in 11 races on Wednesday in his bid to become the third trainer to win 500 races in a calendar year in North America. Broberg has starters in six races at Delta Downs and five at Remington Park.
Broberg through Monday had won 478 races on the year, which puts him first in trainer wins in North America. The only other trainers to have won more than 500 races in a calendar year are Steve Asmussen and Scott Lake.
The dream meet Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen is having at Remington Park continued last week, when he broke his own record for stable earnings in a meet there.
Asmussen reached stable earnings of $2,238,866 after Saturday night’s third race, eclipsing the mark of $2,232,645 he set at the corresponding meet in 2017.
Remington races through Dec. 16.
Asmussen has locked up the Remington trainer title. He’s won 84 races through Saturday night, 34 more than second-leading trainer Karl Broberg. Asmussen is a 13-time title winner at Remington.
Epic Dreamer will get his first chance at some Kentucky Derby points in the $400,000 Springboard Mile for 2-year-olds at Remington Park on Dec. 16. The first four finishers earn Kentucky Derby eligibility points on a scale of 10-4-2-1.
Epic Dreamer was a maiden special weight winner at Belmont Park in his last start Oct. 26. He has since been working at the Palm Meadows training center in South Florida and on Tuesday was to fly from West Palm Beach to Oklahoma City.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar’s average daily handle was up slightly at the fall meeting that ended Sunday compared to a similar meeting two years ago, this despite the wet weather that significantly impacted two days during the final week of this meet, the track’s fifth fall season since Hollywood Park closed.
Del Mar played host to the Breeders’ Cup in 2017, so the attendance for those two days, plus the days on either side of the Breeders’ Cup, skewed that season’s numbers compared to the previous three fall meetings here.
Trainer Ignacio Correas answered his phone Sunday at Tampa Bay Downs, where he has settled in for the winter after a strong fall on the Kentucky circuit. Later the same day, his star mare Dona Bruja raced in the Matriarch at Del Mar. These all are places one might associate with Correas.
Louisiana? Not so much. But Correas has two live chances for Saturday’s Louisiana Champions Day program.
