Thu, 01/07/2016 - 15:42

Saturday feature likely to be rained off turf

On Thursday, races were rained off the turf for the eighth straight racing day, with more rain falling early in the card and another round of showers forecast to hit the area Friday night into Saturday. If the forecast holds, there’s a good chance that races Saturday, including the featured eighth, will once again be rained onto the main track.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 15:31

Destin likely to start in Lecomte

Entering eight days ahead of a race, as Fair Grounds is doing for the Jan. 16 program, creates a strange dynamic and gives trainer Todd Pletcher plenty of time to weigh all factors with Destin, whom he said Thursday he will enter in the Lecomte.

“In this particular case, we can enter, see how we draw, breeze, see how he comes out of the breeze, and then ship,” Pletcher said. “Our plan right now is to run.”

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 15:22

Mo Tom will go in Lecomte for Amoss

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography
Mo Tom is being considered for the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds.

Tom Amoss said he would wait until after Harlan Punch worked Thursday morning to decide whether to run him or another 3-year-old he trains, Mo Tom, in the Jan. 16 Lecomte Stakes, but when rain came during Thursday training and Amoss pushed back Harlan Punch’s work to another day, there was no decision left to make: It’s Mo Tom for the Lecomte.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 15:08

Ladies Handicap looks like battle of New York-breds

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Wonder Gal came off an 11-week layoff to win the Empire Distaff at Belmont Park.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York-bred stakes winners Wonder Gal, Saythreehailmary’s, and Sheriffa make up half of the six-horse field entered for Sunday’s $100,000 Ladies Handicap, scheduled for a mile and 70 yards over Aqueduct’s inner track.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 15:08

Dancing House might skip Interborough

Barbara D. Livingston
Dancing House has not raced since April.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When Kiaran McLaughlin nominated Dancing House to Saturday’s $100,000 Interborough Stakes, he thought it would be the ideal spot to bring a filly without any allowance conditions back off a layoff. Little did he know that the race would come up like a graded stakes, with the likes of La Verdad, Room for Me, and Princess Violet.

Thus, McLaughlin said Thursday he might look elsewhere for Dancing House to make her first start since April, when she won an allowance race at Keeneland. She was sidelined thereafter due to an ankle chip that needed to be removed.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 14:54

King Kranz to get his chance in Withers

Joe Labozzetta/NYRA
King Kranz won the six-furlong Lost in the Fog, and will stretch out to 1 1/16 miles in the Withers.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In 2015, Zayat Stables and trainer John Terranova won two of the three stakes for 3-year-olds run over Aqueduct’s inner track with El Kabeir. The Withers, a race in which El Kabeir finished second, was the one that got away.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 12:30

California Retirement Management Account earmarks $500,000 for 25 charities

ARCADIA, Calif. – The California Retirement Management Account for retired racehorses will distribute more than $500,000 to 25 charities, according to a statement released this week. The distributions will pay for a variety of needs for the charities, including basic costs such as a hay, feed, and medication, the statement indicated.

CARMA generates revenue through fundraisers and through contributions from horse owners who dedicate 0.3 percent of purses earned to the fund.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 12:30

Prize Exhibit might try dirt in Santa Maria

Benoit & Associates
Prize Exhibit, a three-time graded stakes winner on turf, is under consideration for next month's Santa Maria on Santa Anita's main track.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Prize Exhibit, who won her third graded stakes on turf in the $201,500 Monrovia Stakes at Santa Anita last Sunday, might start on a dirt track for the first time next month.

Owner Deron Pearson and trainer Jim Cassidy are considering Prize Exhibit for the $200,000 Santa Maria Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on dirt Feb. 13. Another option is to keep the 4-year-old filly on turf for the $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes at a mile Feb. 20.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 12:16

California Chrome will have one prep in Dubai before World Cup

Barbara D. Livingston
Although the San Pasqual is not California Chrome's main goal, his work pattern and trainer's comments indicate he's ready to fire off the layoff.

ARCADIA, Calif. – California Chrome will have a busy second half of January after Saturday’s $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita.

Trainer Art Sherman said this week that California Chrome is scheduled to leave for Dubai on Jan. 21 to begin preparations for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 26.

California Chrome, 5, will have a different calendar in the next few months than he did last year.

Thu, 01/07/2016 - 08:04

Woodbine to honor 43 horses that died in barn fire

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine will commemorate the 43 horses that perished in a barn fire last Monday during Thursday night’s Standardbred card.

The horses were housed at Classy Lane Stables, a Standardbred training center that is located about an hour west of Toronto, near Guelph, Ontario.