Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s first objective after winning the 7,000th race of his career was to find more winners.
The milestone win occurred with Kiss N Scat in the first race Thursday at Golden Gate Fields. Hollendorfer had runners at Golden Gate Fields and Del Mar throughout the weekend, including four horses entered Sunday at Del Mar, closing day of the autumn meeting.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Rattataptap, who won a one-mile allowance race last weekend, could turn back to seven furlongs for the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes on Dec. 26, opening day of Santa Anita’s winter meeting, according to trainer Phil D’Amato.
Rattataptap, a 3-year-old by Tapit and out of a Broken Vow mare, has won three times in 11 starts.
“If we could get a Grade 1 placing or a win, that would be nice on her résumé,” said D’Amato. “I think she’ll be a better 4-year-old. She’s versatile. She can run on both turf and dirt.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – The Pizza Man, who scored a popular victory Thursday in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup, will leave Del Mar on Monday, bound for New Orleans, where he will spend the winter at Fair Grounds, trainer Roger Brueggemann said Friday.
“He seemed to come out of the race really well,” Brueggemann said from Kentucky, where he now is based for much of the year. “He’ll head to Fair Grounds, and then we’ll start deciding what to do there. We don’t have any set plans yet. Anything should be possible.”
Four months of winter racing begin Thursday at Turfway Park with new post times and a new spot on the racing calendar for the northern Kentucky track’s showcase event, the Spiral Stakes.
The Grade 3 Spiral, first run in 1972, has been moved to April 2, its latest date ever. The Spiral traditionally had been held six weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby but now is five weeks out. The 142nd Derby will be run May 7.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On paper, the Grade 2 Falls City Handicap had a terrific lineup of 13 fillies and mares for its 100th running Thursday – then reality intervened.
In early afternoon came the scratch and retirement of Frivolous, the morning-line favorite and a three-time stakes winner over the local strip. The 5-year-old mare was diagnosed with a minor tendon injury following a routine morning gallop.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs has struggled with filling races in recent years, as track officials have consistently cited the competition from tracks with slot machines as the most compelling factor, but this fall was a notable exception to the recent rule. From the Nov. 1 opener through the 12-race finale here Sunday, fields have been inordinately large. Through Thursday (18 of 21 programs), field size averaged 9.4 horses per race, and there still were 36 races – most with big fields – to be run Friday through Sunday.
NEW ORLEANS – Clearly Now was the odds-on favorite Thursday in the Thanksgiving Handicap in his first start for Brittlyn Stable and trainer Ron Faucheux, and he rallied from off the pace to finish third, beaten 1 3/4 lengths.
“I was hoping this horse would get [up] at six furlongs, but he probably needs more ground,’’ Faucheux said.
NEW ORLEANS – After winning races in bunches at Evangeline Downs and Delta Downs in the last few years, jockey Colby Hernandez has brought his tack to Fair Grounds with the intention of showing that he’s ready to step up in class.
Hernandez is off to a solid start. With six wins in the first five racing days, he stood in a second-place tie with Francisco Torres in the jockeys’ race, one win behind Florent Geroux.
On Thursday, Hernandez won the season’s first stakes race, urging Control Stake to a front-running victory in the Thanksgiving Handicap.
The snowbirds are returning to Florida in full force for the winter, including horsemen from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Canada who flooded the entry box for Saturday’s card at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar. The 10-race card drew 121 entries, about a dozen per race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine will operate a 133-day Thoroughbred meet in 2016, pending approval from the Ontario Racing Commission, according to a Wednesday announcement from the Woodbine Entertainment Group and the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario.
Opening day for the 2016 season is set for April 9, and the meet will conclude on Dec. 4. As usual, the meet will be highlighted by the $1 million Queen’s Plate, which will be run for the 157th time on July 3.
