Favorite Tale will make his second start since winning the Fabulous Strike Stakes at Penn National in November 2015 in the $100,000 Banjo Picker on Saturday at Parx. The Banjo Picker is one of five stakes for Pennsylvania-breds on the card.
The Fabulous Strike came on the heels of Favorite Tale’s gallant third-place finish from post 14 in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland. The top two finishers were Runhappy and Private Zone.
Fresh off its annual three-week August break during the Saratoga meet, Parx Racing jumps into the most important part of its schedule Saturday.
Although still more than three weeks off, the fields for the newly promoted Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and the Grade 1 Cotillion are beginning to take shape. The $1 million races will be held Sept. 23 and are supported by three other stakes, including the Grade 3, $300,000 Gallant Bob, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds.
DEL MAR, Calif. – A Labor Day weekend of stakes runners at Del Mar may be the catalyst for an excellent fall for trainer Keith Desormeaux.
Desormeaux, known for winning the 2016 Preakness Stakes with Exaggerator, has yet to win a stakes race this year. He won the Grade 1 American Oaks with Decked Out at Santa Anita on New Year’s Eve, but is winless in 22 stakes tries in 2017.
The streak could easily end this weekend, when Desormeaux has runners in five of the six stakes worth $100,000 or more at Del Mar.
DEL MAR, Calif. – When a horse is sold at auction for a giant number, the expectations are high. Jeff Mullins is hoping that Tatters to Riches is, truly, one in a million.
Tatters to Riches – a Union Rags colt purchased at auction for $1 million in April – has raced just once, and his debut victory on July 29, coupled with the sterling works he has put in here at Del Mar in recent weeks, has made him one of the leading contenders for the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on closing day Monday.
Trainer Bob Meeking is still going strong at 89 and is actually on a bit of a roll right now. In the last month, he’s won with 4 of his 10 starters at Emerald Downs, and he has an excellent chance of winning Friday’s third race with She’smusictomyears.
He had a simple explanation for his recent success: “I haven’t come up with a magic formula. I just have my horses down low enough to where they can win.”
Meeking was born in Victoria, British Columbia. He saddled his first horse at Lansdowne Park in Richmond, B.C. Landsdowne is long gone and is now a shopping mall.
Jason Barkley, who oversaw a large string of horses in Kentucky for trainer Wesley Ward until midway through this year, now has his own six-horse stable at Keeneland. Barkley, 28, also is working the upcoming Keeneland September yearling sale in conjunction with Franklin Ave. Equine, putting together yearling syndicates.
“I’m planning on taking on the 2-year-old races next spring,” said Barkley. “Let’s see if I learned anything from Wesley.”
Trainer Buff Bradley said he is targeting the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile on Oct. 7 at Keeneland as the next start for Divisidero, most recently seventh in the Aug. 12 Arlington Million at 1 1/4 miles.
“We’ll change his training up, maybe breeze a little shorter and not gallop him as far, try and get a little more speed in him,” said Bradley. “We’ll take a good, fresh horse into the Shadwell.”
The folks at Kentucky Downs have led a charmed existence in recent years. Now let’s see if they can do anything about the weather.
As of Wednesday, the remnants of Hurricane Harvey were heading directly toward Kentucky Downs in south-central Kentucky, and track officials at the turf-only track were concerned that its Saturday opener of the five-day meet might have to be postponed. An announcement on the status of the card is expected to come Friday at 5 p.m. Central.
“We’re trying to stay optimistic,” said C.J. Johnsen, director of broadcasting and interstate wagering.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This year’s Grade 3, $150,000 British Columbia Derby is shaping up as one of the best in recent memory, with a slew of contenders shipping in for the race. The winner of this year’s Emerald Downs Derby, Riser, is expected to start and could be favored in the 1 1/8-mile race on Sept. 9.
The first three finishers from last month’s controversial running of the Grade 3 Canadian Derby will try to sort things out when they meet again in the B.C. Derby, the most important race at Hastings.
The well-traveled Hoppertunity, who has not raced since finishing sixth in the Dubai World Cup on March 25, is starting back toward a return to action. He worked an easy three furlongs on Monday at Los Alamitos, his second drill on the comeback trail.
