ARCADIA, Calif. – Kent Desormeaux will ride Friday at Santa Anita while the circumstances that led to him not riding his two mounts Thursday are under investigation by the California Horse Racing Board.
Desormeaux, scheduled to ride four horses Friday, met earlier in the day with stewards Scott Cheney, Kim Sawyer, and Tom Ward. The meeting was “informal,” according to stewards, who declined further comment pending the CHRB investigation.
The millionaire gelding Mister Marti Gras will use his sharp closing turf allowance win June 21 as a springboard to one of three possible upcoming spots, all July 12, trainer Chris Block said. The Mystic Lake Mile at Canterbury and the Arlington Handicap and Stars and Stripes at Arlington are under consideration, said Block.
Jockey Sheldon Russell’s first Arlington meeting might have come to a premature end.
Russell was unseated by a 2-year-old first-time starter named Private Prospect before the first race Thursday, breaking his foot and partially tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the incident.
SunRay Park in Farmington, N.M., has reported double-digit gains in handle during its 39-date mixed meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses that closed June 22. In addition, average daily purses were up 4 percent during the meet, according to figures provided by racing officials.
SunRay handled an average of $140,000 a day on its races from all sources this meet, up from $95,000 during the same meet a year ago. Total handle for the meet approached $5.5 million, up 46 percent from $2 million in 2013.
AUBURN, Wash. – Del Rio Harbor came out of last Sunday’s Coca-Cola Handicap in good order, trainer Doris Harwood said, and the 3-year-old likely will start next July 13 in the 1 1/16-mile Seattle Slew Handicap.
Del Rio Harbor ran one mile in the Coca-Cola in a swift 1:34.73 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 85, easily the best of his nine starts to date.
AUBURN, Wash. – Trainer Tom Wenzel ran roughshod over Emerald Downs’ 3-year-old filly division last year, sweeping the top three spots in all four open stakes races with his formidable trio of Stopshoppingdebbie, Goin to the Window, and Blueberry Smoothie.
A year later, Wenzel has his hands on two more promising 3-year-old fillies, though this pair, Quiet Wisdom and Timeless Pleasure, has been slow to turn its potential into tangible results. In nine starts to date, the two have combined for a pair of maiden victories and little more.
As a young man, Patrick Mouton had planned on becoming a veterinarian. But he said the advanced chemistry proved too much, and he completed his college career with a degree in animal science. From there, he pursued a training career that has since spanned more than 40 years.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Trainer Tom Proctor wanted to be coy concerning Global View’s participation in the $1.25 million Belmont Derby Invitational on July 12. Proctor is big on keeping options open and holding his cards close.
But the Belmont Derby requires a pre-entry payment of almost $9,000, and owner Glen Hill Farm ponied up the funds this week. Proctor said Thursday a final call on whether to send the talented sophomore from Arlington to Belmont won’t be made until after Global View works here Sunday.
Corey Lanerie will finish as the leading rider at Churchill for the fifth time in the last six meets when the 38-day meet ends Sunday.
Lanerie is among a handful of jockeys who will be headed from here to Saratoga, along with Rosie Napravnik, Julien Leparoux, Shaun Bridgmohan, Brian Hernandez Jr., Robby Albarado, Alan Garcia, and Joe Rocco Jr.
