ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Woodbine Entertainment has announced plans to rebuild a portion of the main turf at Woodbine, which is known as the E.P. Taylor turf course.
Woodbine has purchased new Kentucky bluegrass that will be laid over a five-furlong section of the main course backstretch and a new drainage system will be installed, allowing for the possibility of an extended turf season. The project will not begin until 2025 at the earliest.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine Entertainment has announced the 165th running of the $1 million King’s Plate will be switched from a Sunday to a Saturday in 2024 and will be run on Aug. 17. This year’s Plate card on Aug. 20 produced a record handle of $18.1 million.
“This year’s King’s Plate was a big success, delivering a record handle, a sold-out crowd and really exciting racing,” said Woodbine Entertainment CEO Michael Copeland. “The third weekend in August has been a good spot for attracting a quality field on the track and an energetic crowd off the track.”
Nearly six weeks after she suffered a severe leg injury in a workout at Santa Anita, the 2021 champion Echo Zulu has shown progress in her recovery and could be moved from a local veterinary clinic in early winter.
Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, said Echo Zulu is grazing briefly twice a day.
Echo Zulu sustained fractured sesamoids in a workout on Oct. 13 in preparation for a scheduled start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 4. Echo Zulu underwent emergency surgery the following day.
Santa Anita has cut purses of 23 stakes, including six Grade 1 races, raised the purses of five stakes, and eliminated three stakes for its 2023-2024 spring-summer meeting that runs from Dec. 26 to June 16.
Overall, 90 races will be offered, led by the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, a $750,000 race for 3-year-olds that is a key prep for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4.
Purses for stakes have been reduced by $2.275 million.
Dark Nme, who defeated male rivals in the Grade 1, $1.1 million Texas Classic Futurity last Saturday night at Lone Star Park, has been put away for the season and will target the rich derby series next summer at Ruidoso Downs, according to owner Willie Garcia.
Garcia said Dark Nme emerged from the Texas Classic Futurity in excellent condition and on Tuesday was to arrive at his farm in Hebbronville, Texas. It’s located about two hours south of San Antonio.
Empire of Gold, who has put up the highest Beyer Speed Figure of the current meet at Remington Park, is targeting an upcoming stakes at Delta Downs.
Trainer Terry Eoff said Tuesday that Empire of Gold will look to defend his title in the $75,000 Sam’s Town. The five-furlong race is Jan. 5 at Delta.
“We’re giving him a little breather and won’t run him again until January,” he said. “The shorter the race the better. It looks like five furlongs is his best spot if we can get it.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Drew’s Gold, the multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old sprinter, returned to the work tab Tuesday, breezing an easy three furlongs in 39.71 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
It was his first work since being purchased privately in October by Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Alnuami’s RRR Racing and turned over to trainer Chad Summers. The goal for Drew’s Gold is the Dubai Golden Shaheen next March 30 with a possible prep beforehand in the Mahab Al Shimaal on March 2, Summers said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Three Technique, last of eight in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and Senor Buscador, seventh of 12 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, are among those expected for the Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 2.
Total handle and average race handle on Thoroughbred races held at the recently completed meet at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville, Ind., increased this year by more than 20 percent, according to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form from Equibase charts.
Total handle increased 23.6 percent, from $206.72 million last year to $255.49 million this year, for the same number of live racing days, 116, according to the figures. Average race handle jumped 21.3 percent, from $214,213 last year to $259,908 this year, on a slightly higher number of total Thoroughbred races.
During the racing week spanning Nov. 15-19 Chuchill moved all its grass races to dirt and has not run a grass race since the River City Stakes on Nov. 11. Churchill, however, has continued carding grass races, and Darren Rogers, senior director of media at Churchill, said in an email on Sunday that the status of the turf course remains “day to day” for the final week of the race meeting. Jockeys expressed concern over the course’s safety earlier this month.
