The new Golden Gate Fields racing secretary, Patrick Mackey, in his second week on the job, signed up 16 nominees to Monday’s Grade 3, $100,000 All American, and a week before the race, a minimum of seven entrants seemed likely, according to stakes coordinator Chris Merz.
The Memorial Day card tops a five-day week of racing at Golden Gate, beginning Thursday.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Thirty-six years in the waiting, 12 furlongs to go.
California Chrome, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, arrived at the final stop on his Triple Crown journey Tuesday, when a horse van carrying him and Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin passed through the gates of Belmont Park shortly before 10:45 a.m.
The van arrived following an approximately 4 1/2-hour trip from Pimlico in Baltimore. The van got stuck in a little rush-hour traffic near the George Washington Bridge before picking up a police escort from the Throgs Neck Bridge.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Revolutionary, who earned a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure in winning last Friday’s Grade 3 Pimlico Special by a neck, likely will make his next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 14, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.
Pletcher said the race’s Grade 1 status and its place on the calendar are the major factors in his favoring the Stephen Foster over the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont on July 5. Pletcher likes the spacing from the Stephen Foster to the $1.5 million Whitney Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 2.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Close Hatches, the Apple Blossom Handicap winner, worked five furlongs in 1:00.25 on Monday over the Belmont training track in preparation for her showdown with Beholder and Princess of Sylmar here in the Grade 1, $1 million Ogden Phipps Stakes on June 7.
Under Rodolphe Brisset, Close Hatches went her first three furlongs in 35.43 seconds and came home her final quarter in 24.82 without being asked. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.36 and seven furlongs in 1:29.81.
“She worked well, I was happy with her,” trainer Bill Mott said.
ELMONT, N.Y. – It is not unusual to see the names Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher atop the trainers’ standings at Belmont Park. It is, however, a bit of a surprise when the name Bruce Brown is listed right there with them.
Through the first 14 days – or almost one-third – of the Belmont meet, Bruce Brown was hanging with the big boys, having saddled seven winners from 14 starters. He was tied with Pletcher, and both of them are two wins behind Chad Brown.
BALTIMORE ─ Victor Espinoza will get a second chance to make history, and this time, he believes he’s better prepared for it.
In 2002, Espinoza was the rider of War Emblem, whom he guided to front-running victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to stumble and lose all chance in the Belmont Stakes, finishing eighth.
Gulfstream president and general manager Tim Ritvo said entries for the Memorial Day program on May 26 will be drawn four days in advance on Thursday to accommodate patrons wishing to play the Rainbow 6 on Memorial Day. May 26 has been designated by Gulfstream management as the mandatory payout for the Rainbow 6 pool, which has survived since Jan. 10. The jackpot exceeded $6 million when racing resumed here Friday.
AUBURN, Wash. – These are heady times for Monique Snowden, when her seemingly endless 14-hour workdays can finally turn into something more tangible. The 35-year-old trainer has never had a stakes winner, but she’ll have a serious contender Sunday when she sends out Disruption in the $50,000 Governor’s Handicap at Emerald Downs.
Photos taken at the Kentucky Derby show Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker passing out $100 bills to fans after scoring big on the Derby at Churchill Downs. But did he or someone from his group win too much?
Churchill Downs said Friday that someone from his party received an overpayment in winnings of $14,898 from a betting-terminal malfunction combined with mutuel-clerk error, track spokesman Darren Rogers said.
