Thu, 11/30/2017 - 11:40

Big business, stakes, and horses mark Gulfstream Championship meet

Ronnie Betor
Gulfstream Park opens its winter meet on Saturday, highlighted by the $16 million Pegasus World Cup and the $1 million Florida Derby.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It begins in the fall and ends in the spring, but the tradition-rich Gulfstream Park Championship meeting is still considered the winter meet by longtime horseplayers, who eagerly anticipate another star-studded season of racing in south Florida, beginning Saturday and continuing through April 1.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 18:25

Churchill fall meet handle declines 1 percent

Total handle for the 21-day Churchill Downs fall meet that concluded on Sunday was down 1 percent compared with handle during the 21-day meet last year, according to amended figures released on Wednesday by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Total handle was $96.6 million this year, compared with $97.6 million last year, according to the figures, which were amended on Wednesday after questions were raised about an initial release from the KHRC on Monday.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 16:31

Peter Miller plans Oaklawn string

Justin N. Lane
Peter Miller has 20 stalls for the Oaklawn meet that opens in January.

Trainer Peter Miller, who won two Breeders’ Cup races earlier this month at Del Mar, said Wednesday he plans to have a division of horses at the Oaklawn Park meet that opens in January. It will mark the first time he has raced in Arkansas.

Miller won the Breeders' Cup Sprint with Roy H and the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with Stormy Liberal. His main base of operation will continue to be Southern California. 

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 15:56

Ebben to get his chance in Lecomte

Expect Ebben to make his next start Jan. 13 in the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds following his eye-catching win Nov. 25 at Churchill in a first-level allowance race.

Following less-than-ideal journeys in the Iroquois and the Street Sense at Churchill, Ebben broke through with a 4 1/2-length score in a one-turn mile, getting a career-best 75 Beyer Figure.

“I was glad he got the chance to run the other day after a couple tougher trips,” said trainer Steve Margolis.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 15:56

Bucchero, Bullards Alley represent the short and the long of it for Glyshaw

Michael Burns
Bullards Alley won the Canadian International at 42-1 on Saturday.

Bucchero wants to run no more than six furlongs on turf, while Bullards Alley needs at least 1 1/2 miles on grass for his best.

Trainer Tim Glyshaw should have little trouble keeping his stable stars apart next year.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 15:56

Cox figures to be a regular presence in stakes

Churchill Downs/Coady Photography
Monomoy Girl, winner of the Rags to Riches on opening weekend, has a chance to bookend the meet with a victory in the Golden Rod.

Time will tell if Brad Cox can repeat as leading trainer at the Fair Grounds meet, but there’s little doubt Cox will be heard from in a wide swath of stakes races this season.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 15:40

Gigantic Breeze an unknown quantity on dirt

Coady Photography
Gigantic Breeze has made all 17 of his career starts on either artificial surfaces or turf.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel is the main event Saturday on opening day of the 2017-18 Gulfstream Park Championship meet. And in the true spirit of the Claiming Crown, the 1 1/8-mile Jewel drew a large and competitive field of 13 horses coming off races run at eight different racetracks throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 15:36

Servis looking to sweep Demoiselle, Remsen

Joe Labozzetta/NYRA
Daisy and jockey Kendrick Carmouche win the Tempted Stakes by 4 3/4 lengths.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer John Servis will have contenders in both the Demoiselle and Remsen – Grade 2, $200,000 stakes for juvenile females and juveniles, respectively, at Aqueduct on Saturday.

In the Demoiselle, Servis will send out the uncoupled entry of Daisy and Maurer Power in a field of eight.

Daisy, a daughter of Blame, is 2 for 2, including a 4 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Tempted here on the Nov. 3 opening-day card.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 15:36

Cigar Mile has Breeders' Cup feel

Barbara D. Livingston
Practical Joke will make the final start of his career in the Cigar Mile.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The decision by the New York Racing Association to move the Cigar Mile back a week on the calendar seemed to pay dividends as four of the 10 horses entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 1 stakes are coming out of a race run on Breeders’ Cup weekend.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 15:06

Jockey Hebert gets win No. 4,000

Coady Photography
Tracy Hebert and Rational Decision after Tuesday's win.

Jockey Tracy Hebert reached 4,000 Thoroughbred wins in North America on Tuesday, when he guided Rational Decision to a 4 1/4-length victory in the fourth race at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.

Hebert, 54, is a native of Erath, La., the same hometown as jockeys Randy Romero, Shane Sellers, and Curt Bourque. Hebert’s first win came at 16 at Evangeline Downs in 1979. He was aboard for his uncle and mentor, trainer Doris Hebert. Tracy Hebert’s mounts have since earned more than $54 million.