Wed, 07/05/2017 - 14:16

Roman, Prat tie for Santa Anita riding title

Apprentice jockey Evin Roman and journeyman Flavien Prat shared the riding title at the Santa Anita spring-summer meeting, which ended on Tuesday.

Each won 41 races at the meeting, with Prat winning twice on Tuesday to tie Roman.

The rematch will take place at the Del Mar summer meeting, which begins on July 19. During the current Los Alamitos meeting, which runs through July 16, Prat is scheduled to ride only the Los Alamitos Derby program on July 15, according to his agent, Derek Lawson. Prat, 24, is riding at Belmont Park this weekend.

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 14:16

Songbird cooperates with Smith in workout

Barbara D. Livingston
Songbird works seven furlongs in 1:25.80 under Mike Smith on Wednesday.

Songbird worked seven furlongs in 1:25.80 under jockey Mike Smith at Santa Anita on Wednesday as she prepares for the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap on July 15.

Smith said he is pleased by Songbird’s willingness to go only as fast as asked in her works.

“She’s been doing anything I want her to do,” Smith said. “If I ask her to pick it up, she will. If I ask her to gear down, she does.”

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 14:16

Magic Mark brings love for track into Bertrando Stakes

Benoit & Associates
Magic Mark wins the Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos in 2015.

Magic Mark is home with trainer Ron Ellis at Santa Anita, but many of the 7-year-old’s best races have occurred more than 30 miles away at Los Alamitos.

In three starts at Los Alamitos, all in stakes, Magic Mark has never been worse than third, and he won the 2015 Bertrando Stakes for California-bred milers. Last September, he was second to Soi Phet in the E.B. Johnston Stakes for Cal-bred milers.

That record makes Magic Mark a contender in Saturday’s $100,000 Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos.

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 12:56

Handle continues to grow at spring meet

Interest in Gulfstream Park’s spring session continues to grow from horsemen and horseplayers alike.

The 2017 spring meeting concluded Friday and for the second straight year showed big gains at the mutuel windows. Handle for the session totaled $312 million, up 13 percent from the $276 million wagered during the corresponding period in 2016. Handle on the inaugural spring meeting here in 2015 was $246 million. The average daily handle has also climbed steadily from $4.2 million in 2015 to a record $5.3 million this past spring.

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 12:40

Gaffalione matches his idol's record

Leslie Martin
Tyler Gaffalione tied the Gulfstream Park record by winning seven races on Tuesday's card, including the Martha Washington Stakes on Adorable Miss. But Gaffalione's bid for an eighth win was foiled when he finished second on Bronson in the Not Surprising Stakes, won by General McGooby.

Tyler Gaffalione said he grew up idolizing Jerry Bailey and basically tried to copy everything he did as a rider. On Tuesday, Gaffalione took copying Bailey to another level when he matched the Hall of Fame rider’s record from 22 years ago by becoming only the second jockey in track history to win seven races on a single card at Gulfstream Park.

Bailey won seven races on Florida Derby Day in March 1995. He fell a nose short in his quest for an eighth victory that afternoon when he was defeated aboard Suave Prospect by Thunder Gulch in the Florida Derby.

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 12:06

Graded stakes winner Rose Brier retired

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
Rose Brier won the 2016 Ed Evans by one length.

Rose Brier, who was transferred to trainer Jane Cibelli as a 4-year-old maiden in 2013 and went on to win 14 races and more than $527,000, has been retired, it was announced Wednesday.

Rose Brier, an 8-year-old gelded son of Mizzen Mast, won four Virginia-bred stakes at Laurel Park and Pimlico over the years. He also won the open Henry Clark Stakes at Laurel in April 2016. He scored his most important win last November at Gulfstream Park West in the Grade 3 Tropical Turf Handicap.

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 12:00

Convivial impresses in debut for Goldberg

Convivial turned in an eye-catching debut victory for Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables and trainer Alan Goldberg on Saturday at Monmouth Park, rallying from far back to win a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden race by 2 1/4 lengths.

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 09:28

Woodmans Luck still ‘ultra cool’ at age 9

Barbara D. Livingston
Woodmans Luck is part of the field in the seventh race, an optional claimer over 1 1/4 miles on turf.

Trainer Michelle Lovell was buying more than she expected when claiming Woodmans Luck for $16,000 out of a June 10 victory at Churchill Downs.

Lovell had been unaware that Woodmans Luck won the last race ever run at Hollywood Park on Dec. 22, 2013, until she recently watched the replay of him winning that emotional finale by a nose under Corey Nakatani.

“Gave me goose bumps,” said Lovell.

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 09:10

Santa Anita sees increases in handle and attendance, but field size remains a problem

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita completed a marathon six-month season on Tuesday with increases in all-sources handle and attendance, track officials said.

But the final months of the meeting were plagued by difficulty filling races, and racing on four Thursdays was canceled – one in late April and three in June. The track raced three days a week for three weeks in June and saw an increase in field size during that span.

Three-day weeks may be built into the schedule for the 2018 meeting, according to track senior vice president Joe Morris.

Wed, 07/05/2017 - 09:06

Fee dispute limits tracks available for wagering at Kentucky simulcast facilities

Coady Photography
Jack Van Berg, a Hall of Fame trainer, will be a regular at Churchill Downs for the first time in more than 20 years.

Some horseplayers who visited Ellis Park or another in-state simulcast facility during the opening four-day weekend of the western Kentucky track’s meet undoubtedly were dismayed to discover that some of their favorite tracks were unavailable for watching and wagering.