Thu, 03/13/2014 - 12:36

ThistleDown: Ohio Derby purse raised to $300,000

Thanks in large part to revenue generated by ThistleDown’s video lottery terminals, the purse of the Ohio Derby has been raised from $100,000 to $300,000 this year. The Ohio Derby will be run July 19.
The Ohio Derby offered a $300,000 purse from 1989 through 2001 and peaked at $350,000 from 2004 to 2006. The purse was dropped to $100,000 beginning in 2010. Long a Grade 3 race, the Ohio Derby was downgraded to a listed stakes for this year.

Thu, 03/13/2014 - 12:07

Gulfstream Park: Sanchez fielding offers to buy Social Inclusion

Barbara D. Livingston
Social Inclusion earned a 111 Beyer Speed Figure for his win Wednesday in which he broke the Gulfstream Park main-track record for 1 1/16 miles.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – On the heels of Social Inclusion’s record-setting, 10-length allowance victory over Honor Code on Wednesday at Gulfstream Park, owner Ron Sanchez’s phone has been ringing off the hook with offers to buy all or a portion of the 3-year-old sensation.

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 15:37

Oaklawn Park: Azeri attracts field of seven

Tom Keyser
Close Hatches, winning the Grade 1 Cotillion last year, runs Saturday in the Azeri and could return to Oaklawn for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 11.

The Rebel Stakes for 3-year-olds will be supported by the Grade 2, $200,000 Azeri and the Grade 3, $200,000 Razorback Handicap on a Saturday card bolstered this year to create a preview day for some of the Racing Festival of the South stakes the final week of the Oaklawn Park meet.

The Azeri drew a field of seven when entries were taken Wednesday. The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares, designed to produce starters for the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom, will go as the eighth race. It’s the first of the stakes, which will be run consecutively Saturday.

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 15:05

Oaklawn Park: Gowan's mentor nearby for advice on Rebel starter Ride On Curlin

Coady Photography
Ride on Curlin (left) is trained by Billy Gowan, who learnd his craft as an assistant with Jack Van Berg.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – If trainer Billy Gowan needs any Hall of Fame advice with Ride On Curlin, who runs Saturday in the Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, he just needs to walk a few paces up his shed row to the stable of Jack Van Berg.

“It’s great to be able to pick his brain,” Gowan said.

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 14:38

Gulfstream Park: McPeek laments Golden Ticket's near-miss

Barbara D. Livingston
Golden Ticket returns after finishing second in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Ken McPeek said he was both pleased and frustrated with Golden Ticket’s second-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap. Golden Ticket rallied to reach even terms with the victorious Palace Malice in late stretch before being outkicked to the wire, dropping a head decision while making his first start since the Grade 1 Stephen Foster more than three months earlier.

[Clocker Reports: Get Mike Welsch’s clocker reports from Gulfstream Park and Palm Meadows]

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 14:28

Gulfstream Park: Wildcat Red slated for Florida Derby work

Tom Keyser
Wildcat Red (right) will have his first work this week since winning the Fountain of Youth.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Jose Garoffalo said Wildcat Red will work for the first time since capturing the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes almost three weeks earlier either Friday or Saturday morning, depending upon the weather.

“Right now, the plan is still to take him to the Florida Derby,” Garoffalo said. “He’s doing well, he doesn’t need too much. He’ll just gallop strong and have a couple of easy works before his next start.”

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 14:10

Turfway Park: Tamarando expected to lead full field for Spiral Stakes

Benoit & Associates
Tamarando and jockey Rafael Bejarano score by 3 1/4 lengths in the Real Quiet Stakes in November.

Turfway Park is expecting a full field of 12 3-year-olds for its marquee race, the Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes on March 22.

Tamarando, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, looks like the probable favorite off his victory in the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 15. Hollendorfer has won the Spiral twice, with Event of the Year in 1997 and Globalize in 2000.

The Spiral offers 85 qualifying points for the May 3 Kentucky Derby, with 50 points to the winner.

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 14:00

Aqueduct: Wood Memorial to air live on NBC Sports

Michael Amoruso
Noble Moon, here winning the Jerome, worked a half-mile in 49.44 over a slow track on Thursday.

The $1 million Wood Memorial, New York’s final prep for the Kentucky Derby, will be shown on NBC Sports as part of a 90-minute broadcast that also will include the Santa Anita Derby.

The Wood will be race 10 on a 12-race card on April 5 that will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern, instead of the usual 1:20 p.m. Post time for the Wood is 5:40 p.m., and it is one of four graded stakes on the program.

Also on the Wood card are the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, which will be run as race 11, and the Bay Shore and Gazelle, two stakes that will precede the Wood.

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 13:56

Richard Bomze, owner-breeder of Fourstardave, dies at 76

Richard Bomze, a champion New York breeder who campaigned millionaire full brothers Fourstardave and Fourstars Allstar, died Tuesday night at his home in Hollywood, Fla., after a long battle with emphysema. He was 76.

Bomze was owner and president of Star Sports Corp., which published American Turf Monthly. He also owned a phone service company, Sports Reporter, which made selections on professional sports.

He got involved in horse ownership in the 1980s and was New York state’s top breeder in 1990, 1991, and 1993.

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 13:49

Gulfstream Park: Mucho Macho Man regroups

Shigeki Kikkawa
Mucho Macho Man, training at Santa Anita last week, is back home at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mucho Macho Man returned to his winter home at Gulfstream Park late Wednesday afternoon following his fourth-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.

Trainer Kathy Ritvo said she has no real explanation for why Mucho Macho Man faltered badly through the stretch and was beaten 10 1/2 lengths by Game On Dude, a horse he had defeated decisively over the same track four months earlier in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.