DEL MAR, Calif. - The days of Grade 1 dirt races are over for Hard Aces.
Next weekend, Hard Aces is expected to start in Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf - and not the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles on dirt the same day.
Hard Aces had his final major exercise Sunday, working five furlongs in 1:00.60.
“We’ll keep him away from the Grade 1 horses,” trainer John Sadler said Sunday. “It’s time to try something a little marathony.”
DEL MAR, Calif. - Del Mar reached the halfway point of its summer meeting over the weekend with a gain in handle and field sizes, but a decline in attendance compared to the same period in 2016.
All-sources handle, including on-track, simulcast and account wagering sources, showed an increase of 7.2 percent through Saturday, the 19th day of the 36-day season, according to track Chief Operating Officer Josh Rubinstein.
Ontrack handle increased 4.9 percent, while out-of-state handle rose 10.1 percent.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Accelerate and Collected, two of the leading contenders for the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic next Saturday, both turned in their final works for the race on Sunday morning at Del Mar in a style indicating their fondness for this track has not wavered.
Accelerate won the San Diego Handicap last month, the race in which Arrogate suffered a shocking defeat. He is unbeaten at Del Mar in three starts.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Songbird, who won two Grade 1 races here last summer as part of her championship campaign, will return to Saratoga for her next start, the Grade 1, $700,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 26, her owner Rick Porter said Sunday.
“I think it was always on the top of our list,” Porter told Daily Racing Form on Sunday. “She likes Saratoga. I love Saratoga. I can get to the race. I think it’s the best race for her.”
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Mechanical issues caused the flight scheduled to transport the winners of the Arlington Million and Beverly D. back to upstate New York to be cancelled Sunday morning. Chad Brown chuckled about it.
“Let’s get some drama into this story, can we?” Brown said by phone early Sunday from his Saratoga base.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It rained again on Fourstardave Day in Saratoga. But unlike last year, when the final six races on the card were canceled, the New York Racing Association got in all 11 races Saturday completing what has been a wildly successful first half from a business standpoint.
All-sources handle through Saturday was $342,506,638, a 10.6 perent increase over last year’s figure of $309,760,529. Ontrack handle was $79,761,216, an 8.6 percent increase over last year’s figure of $73,451,290.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey Dylan Davis had quite the memorable Saturday at Saratoga. Five hours after he became a father for the first time, he rode Oskar Blues to a 33-1 upset in the second race.
Davis’ girlfriend, Sara Rowland, gave birth at 8:30 a.m. to the couple’s first child, a son whom they named Michael Dylan. He weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces.
Davis wasn’t scheduled to ride until Saturday’s third race. But when jockey Robby Albarado had travel issues, he couldn’t arrive on time to ride Oskar Blues, so trainer Ken McPeek named Davis to ride.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Coming off a last-place finish in the Jim Dandy Stakes two weeks ago, Cloud Computing needs to show Chad Brown that he’s ready to return to his Preakness-winning form before the trainer commits the colt to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 26.
The criticism came fast and furious. And not unexpectedly.
“A step to ruin,” one Twitter user said. A Twitter user going by the handle mylifemyrules99 said, "The rich get richer and we pay for it." Twitter user Greg Hartman wrote that he “would never bet Keeneland again” and claimed that the track was “railroading horse players.”
Trainer Mac Robertson should have a major say in the featured $50,000 Hoist Her Flag, race 7 on Sunday at Canterbury. The Hoist Her Flag is a six-furlong dash for older fillies and mares, and Robertson starts Thoughtless and Beach Flower.
