Magic Mark, winner of the Harry Brubaker at Del Mar during the summer meet, heads the prospective lineup for the $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes for older California-breds going seven furlongs on Sunday.
Magic Mark was third against open company in the Big Bear at Santa Anita last time out Nov. 3.
The Cary Grant was also expected to include Acceptance, Grazen Sky, Image of Joplin, Lucky J Lane, Solid Wager, Tengas Ransom, and Tribal Fighter.
Hoppertunity to Clark
Cash Control and Kitten’s Roar are the 119-pound co-highweights in the Grade 3, $100,000 Cardinal Handicap, which will be run at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
The Cardinal, for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf, goes as the 10th of 11 races on a card that also includes the $80,000 Bet On Sunshine (race 9) for older sprinters.
From the hedge, this is the Cardinal field: Real Smart, Annulment, Complete St., Lady Fog Horn, Kitten’s Roar, The Tea Cups, Belle de Nuit, Christie’s Ready, Heath, Salama, Lots o’ Lex, Cash Control, and Bitty Kitty.
Dominoes are falling in the wake of Antonio Gallardo deciding not to ride this coming winter at Tampa Bay Downs, where he has ruled in recent years.
Albin Jimenez, similarly dominant in recent seasons at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky, is among the jockeys shifting their tack this winter to Tampa, which starts its 2016-17 meet on Nov. 26. Mike Moran, who booked mounts for Gallardo, will now work for Jimenez, while Jimmy McNerney, longtime agent for Jimenez, calls races at Turfway.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Looks like Big Money Mike has landed another big one.
With Rafael Bejarano out the first part of the Del Mar meet owing to six days of suspensions plus an injury to his right hand, jockey Mike Smith has picked up the mount on the highly regarded 2-year-old Mastery for the $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes on Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Da Big Hoss is finished racing this year after a highly eventful campaign that ended with a disappointing run in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Trainer Mike Maker said Da Big Hoss has been turned out at Woodford Farm in Versailles, Ky., but will return to his stable this winter at Gulfstream Park.
“He’s gone real hard ever since we’ve had him,” said Maker. “He’s getting a break he deserves. Hopefully he’ll be just as good next year when we bring him back.”
This is the sixth autumn that Charlie Smith has sent String King on a five-hour van ride from the training center at which he’s based during the summer, in Haughton, La., down to the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. A gelding Smith bred, owns, and trains, String King turns 9 in a little more than a month. He’s had a wonderful career, with 19 wins – 14 in stakes – from 45 starts. But it’s fair to wonder if String King will be making his annual journey a year from now.
Entries for race cards in Louisiana have been taken a week or more before the actual races for more than a year now. The system’s been in place long enough now that no one really has cause to notice it – except at the start of a meet. Fair Grounds begins its 2016-17 season Saturday, and entries for that card will have been out for eight days when they get around to running it.
Horsemen with stakes-quality sprinters have plenty of options in the Mid-Atlantic.
On Saturday, the Grade 3, $250,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash will be run at Laurel Park. On Thanksgiving Eve, the $200,000 Fabulous Strike is on tap at Penn National. And, on the holiday, the Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight will be the feature at Aqueduct. All three races are for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs.
While local trainers will be shopping for the best spot, out-of-towners Tom Howard and Jorge Navarro have committed top contenders to the De Francis Dash.
Charles Town Races in West Virginia will cut its takeout on its two daily pick 4 wagers to 15 percent, effective with its first live racing card in December, the track announced on Tuesday.
The track received approval to cut the takeout from the West Virginia Racing Commission on Tuesday morning after getting sign-off on the plan from local horsemen. Prior to the cut, the takeout on the pick 4 was 22 percent.
The cut will go into effect on Dec. 1, the track said.
Horses are often best judged by the company they keep, and one of the reasons Balandeen has landed in Saturday’s Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot is how well he ran against a good horse in his last start.
The Jackpot, a 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-olds, will anchor a card of eight stakes worth $2.3 million at Delta Downs, the richest program of the year at Delta.
Balandeen finished second at 19-1 on Oct. 30 in the $83,000 Street Sense at Churchill Downs. The winner, McCraken, is unbeaten in two starts.
