SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher entered the final five days of the Saratoga meet with 18 wins from 112 starters. For most trainers, that would be fantastic.
DRF Past Performances
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A doubling of the purse for the Long Island Handicap and the addition of four new turf stakes for 2-year-olds highlight the changes to the Aqueduct fall stakes schedule released Thursday by the New York Racing Association.
The Long Island, a Grade 3 turf stakes for fillies and mares run at 1 3/8 miles, will now be worth $400,000 and will anchor the Nov. 24 card, which is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It had been worth $200,000 and run on Breeders’ Cup Saturday, the first Saturday of November.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Good Magic emerged sick from his ninth-place finish as the 7-5 favorite in last Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes and, when healthy, will be shipped to Kentucky to undergo a full physical examination, trainer Chad Brown said Thursday.
Brown said blood tests taken following the Travers revealed that Good Magic had a significantly high white blood cell count. Brown said Good Magic has responded to antibiotics, and he hopes to ship him to Lexington, Ky., next week to “check him out head to toe.”
The annual September lovefest at Kentucky Downs gets going Saturday when four stakes anchor a 10-race opener.
Gigantic purses and a quaint country-fair atmosphere are among the turn-ons for horsemen and fans who will travel to the south-central turf-only track over the next two weeks, while simulcast bettors also will show their appreciation for the full fields and competitive racing that have become hallmarks at Kentucky Downs.
Dan Peitz enjoyed a terrific summer meet at Ellis Park by winning with six of his 13 starters, including winning a race a day Aug. 3-5. His $3.25 ROI (on a $2 wager) leads all trainers with at least 10 starts.
“Everything came together,” said Peitz, who has trained since 1987. “The races stayed on the grass, the horses got in, we got some great trips, and we won a photo or two. The racing gods were shining down on us.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown entered three in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls Stakes, a 1 3/8-mile turf stakes for fillies and mares.
Brown will go with the uncoupled trio of Homeland Security, winner of the River Memories Stakes at Belmont on July 8; Santa Monica, winner of the Grade 2 Dance Smartly at Woodbine on June 30; and Onthemoonagain, a French-bred 4-year-old filly who finished third in an allowance here on Aug. 2, her first start in 10 months.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Mark Casse got this summer off to a strong start when Catherinethegreat won the Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes here on opening day. It has been nothing but frustration since.
Casse entered the final week of the Saratoga meet with 2 wins from 52 starters. He’s had 11 seconds and nine thirds.
“It’s been rough,” Casse said. “For the most part, the horses have run well, just can’t win. I’ve been down that road before. The difference is if it happens at Woodbine, no one pays attention.”
The heartfelt tributes to John Asher have absolutely poured in since the longtime vice president for racing communications at Churchill Downs died Monday at age 62 from an apparent heart attack while on a family vacation in Orlando, Fla.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A year ago, Good Samaritan transferred his turf graded-stakes-winning form to dirt when he upset Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Preakness winner Cloud Computing in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes.
On Saturday, the Grade 1-winning turf horse Yoshida – like Good Samaritan owned by WinStar Farm and China Horse Club and trained by Bill Mott – will make his dirt debut in the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The former out-of-the-way meet that has grown into something of a phenomenon will begin Saturday with the kind of eye-popping numbers that horsemen and fans have come to expect from Kentucky Downs.
The 10-race opener will conclude with four straight stakes, led by the $750,000 Tourist Mile. The Saturday card is the first of five at the Kentucky Downs meet, with the other dates being Sept. 6, 8, 9, and 13. Churchill Downs will begin an 11-day meet on Sept. 14.