Horseshoe Indianapolis cancelled its Wednesday racing program after several inches of rain fell in the area overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning, according to the track.
Horseshoe Indianapolis said in an announcement on social media that the cancellation came out of concern for the safety of horses and jockeys.
BALTIMORE – Bob Baffert looked at his phone shortly after 5 a.m. Pacific time Wednesday morning and saw an incoming call from his assistant Jimmy Barnes, who was across the country at Pimlico.
“When Jimmy calls me early, that’s not a good sign,” Baffert said.
Indeed, the news was not good. Barnes called to tell Baffert that Muth, the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $2 million Preakness Stakes, spiked a 103-degree temperature, forcing him to have to scratch from the race.
The owners of Turf Paradise in Phoenix and Arizona’s horsemen have reached a deal to maintain approximately 100 days of racing at the track for the next three years, one year after the track was widely anticipated to close, state racing officials said Tuesday.
The three-year deal will guarantee four days of live racing each week from the first weekend in November to the first Saturday in May through 2027, according to Vince Francia, the longtime general manager of the track. That has been the traditional racing season at Turf Paradise for decades.
BALTIMORE – Muth beat Mystik Dan by 6 1/4 lengths in the Arkansas Derby two months ago at Oaklawn Park, and though the latter has since come back to win the Kentucky Derby, Muth was installed as the morning-line favorite over Mystik Dan for Saturday’s $2 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
Muth drew post 4 and was made the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of nine on the line of both Daily Racing Form’s David Aragona and Preakness linemaker Brian Nadeau. Mystik Dan drew post 5 and was made the 3-1 second choice on Aragona’s line, 5-2 on Nadeau’s line.
A popular bonus system designed to lure horses from other states or countries to race at the Del Mar summer meeting will have smaller payoffs for some horses at the track’s forthcoming season from July 20 to Sept. 8.
Horses who have not raced in California in the last 12 months, and did not have their previous starts in California, will be eligible for a 40 percent bonus for purses earned in overnight races through the meeting. Horses that meet that criteria and start no more than twice at Santa Anita in May or June also are eligible.
First-time starters are excluded.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Two Rivers Over, winner of the Group 2 Godolphin Mile on dirt in Dubai in March, will resume his 2024 season in the Grade 3 Steve Sexton Mile on May 27 at Lone Star Park, co-owner Ty Leatherman said Sunday.
Two Rivers Over was being considered for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap on June 8 at Saratoga, but Leatherman said the $400,000 Sexton Mile has greater appeal from a competitive standpoint.
Los Alamitos has scheduled three stakes worth $400,000 during its eight-day Los Angeles County Fair meeting from June 22 to July 7.
There are stakes planned on the three Saturdays of the brief season.
The richest race will be the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes for fillies and mares, a $200,000 race at 6 1/2 furlongs on July 6.
The $100,000 Bertrando Stakes for statebred milers is scheduled for June 22, while the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby at 1 1/8 miles will be run on June 29.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The May 27 program at Santa Anita could be an A-plus day for trainer Leonard Powell.
Powell has ambitions to sweep the two Grade 1 turf races on Memorial Day with Air Force Red in the Shoemaker Mile and Anisette in the Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles.
Both races are worth $300,000, and both of Powell’s runners have delivered outstanding performances in recent starts.
Pretty Mischievous managed a third-place finish making her 4-year-old bow in the La Troienne, but she was beaten more than five lengths, earned just an 86 Beyer Speed Figure, and did not run to her best form.
“I thought she ran well, but I don’t know that she’s in love with the slop,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “That, and she’ll probably improve from the run. She might have gotten a little tired at the end. It looked at the quarter pole like she was going to be competitive. She at least showed us she’s trained on.”
