Prairie Meadows on Friday announced plans for a mandatory payout of its jackpot pick five on Monday.
The pool heading into the Friday night card is $125,255. First post on Monday is 4 p.m. Central.
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Walter Hodges, a noted Quarter Horse jockey who later trained Thoroughbreds, died Monday in Chickasha, Okla., according to his brother, Dale Hodges. Walter Hodges was 81.
Dale Hodges said his brother died from complications that arose due to circulation issues in his left leg.
Walter Hodges competed as a jockey for about 30 years, among his high points in the saddle was winning the 1970 Rainbow Derby at Ruidoso Downs aboard the filly Go Together.
Red Route One is under serious consideration for the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic following his recent win in the Grade 3 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows, according to his trainer, Steve Asmussen.
Red Route One was up for a half-length win over stablemate Unload in the Cornhusker, a 1 1/8-mile race held July 6. The Charles Town Classic will be run over the same distance Aug. 23.
“We’ll consider a couple of spots for him, but probably the most likely is the Charles Town Classic,” Asmussen said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Master of The Seas, unraced since his Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile victory at Keeneland in April, picked up the pace in his preparation for the Grade 1 Fourstardave on Aug 10 by working four furlongs on the Oklahoma turf course in 48.51 seconds Friday morning. Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch caught Master of The Seas galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.28, while pulling away from his workmate.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Nobals, the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner, will make his seasonal debut Sunday at Saratoga in a $120,000 stakes-caliber allowance race at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.
Trainer Larry Rivelli entered Nobals and One Timer, a multiple stakes winner, in both this race and Sunday’s $100,000 Robert Molaro Stakes at Hawthorne. One Timer wound up on the also-eligible list for the Saratoga allowance, making Rivelli’s decision on where to run both horses an easy one.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Gabaldon, who came up a length short from pulling off a major upset last month at Royal Ascot in the Windsor Castle Stakes for trainer Jose D’Angelo, began preparations for the second half of his 2-year-old campaign, breezing an easy three furlongs in 38.95 seconds over the main track here Thursday.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The 3-year-old Knightsbridge, who has won his first two starts by a combined 19 1/2 lengths, has recently returned to trainer Bill Mott’s Saratoga barn and is in light training for a potential fall campaign.
Knightsbridge was turned out for more than 60 days after suffering from a maladaptive bone disease, commonly referred to as bone bruising.
Mott said Knightsbridge is just jogging at the current time and there is no set timetable for his potential return.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In between two very appealing graded stakes on Saturday’s Saratoga card is what appears to be an intriguing maiden race for 2-year-olds featuring debut runners from the barn of Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher, Brad Cox, and Bill Mott.
The 6 1/2-furlong race, which goes as the seventh, drew a field of 11 but is limited to 10 starters.
Chancer McPatrick, a son of first-year sire McKinzie, sold for $725,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales auction in April. He shows a series of solid works for Brown, who has already sent out two debut winners at the meet.
The Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes, one of the leading turf races of the Del Mar summer meeting, has a projected field of nine on Sunday, all graded stakes winners.
The starting gate is expected to include Balladeer, Balnikhov, Dicey Mo Chara, Du Jour, Easter, Gold Phoenix, Johannes, Master Piece, and There Goes Harvard.
The $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes is run at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
Gold Phoenix and Balnikhov were first and second in the 2023 Eddie Read Stakes, which also drew a field of nine.
Francisco Garcia, an assistant to trainer Mike Puype, will have his first starter when City of Angels starts in the fifth race at Del Mar on Friday.
Garcia has taken over the stable after Puype was provisionally suspended on July 19 by the Horseracing and Wagering Integrity Unit for alleged possession of two banned substances in late April.
