Mon, 09/23/2013 - 15:22

Santa Anita: Awesome Again ambitious spot for You Know I Know

Benoit & Associates
You Know I Know followed this optional-claiming victory at Del Mar in August with a third in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A $50,000 claimer as recently as April, the 4-year-old gelding You Know I Know makes his second consecutive start in a Grade 1 in Saturday’s $250,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. He deserves to be part of the field, in the mind of trainer John Sadler.

You Know I Know was third in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 25 and before that won an optional claimer over a mile on the synthetic track there Aug. 3.

“He ran two good races down there and he seems like a horse that is coming up a bit,” Sadler said Sunday.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 15:22

Betfair Hollywood Park's final stakes schedule mostly unchanged

Betfair Hollywood Park has released the stakes schedule for the track’s final season this fall, with few changes from recent years.

The meeting runs 29 racing days, from Nov. 7 through Dec. 22. The track will be permanently closed after the meeting, with the property scheduled to be developed for commercial and residential uses beginning in 2014.

The fall meeting has 21 stakes worth $4 million, compared to 18 stakes worth $3.8 million in 2012.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 15:02

Woodbine notes: Drake savors first stakes victory with Lapsang

Michael Burns
Lapsang, with Omar Moreno aboard, wins the Deputy Jane West Stakes on Saturday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Suzanne Drake has paid her dues in the racing game, learning the ropes before launching her own training career in 1992 while also running her Silver Duck Racing Stable with her husband, Tim.

Last Saturday, Drake celebrated her first stakes win when Lapsang, a 2-year-old filly she owns in partnership with Janice and Joseph Pollard and Philip Yu, was up in time for a neck victory in the $114,800 Deputy Jane West Stakes.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 14:41

Woodbine: Sparrowhawk, Denim Bay meet in oversubscribed allowance

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A whopping 16 horses were entered in Wednesday’s Woodbine feature, a $52,500 allowance for Ontario-sired nonwinners of two races. Of the 14 who made it into the main body of the seven-furlong sprint, the most likely winners are Sparrowhawk and Denim Bay, who could vie for favoritism.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 14:25

Assiniboia Downs: Meet ends with rise in all-sources handle

All-sources wagering on the live product was up 6.1 percent at the 60-day Assiniboia Downs meeting that ended Sunday, with the total increasing from $8.2 million last year to $8.7 million this year.

The daily average for this year was $145,000, compared with last year’s $138,962 for a 59-day meet. Assiniboia Downs, in a year-end press release, reported a 24.3 percent increase in wagering from outside the province but an ontrack decrease of 10.8 percent.

The average field size was 6.98, compared with 6.97 last year.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 14:09

Northlands Park: Count the Change faces short field in optional claimer

Count the Change figures to be a short price when she runs in a $25,000 optional claimer for fillies and mares Wednesday at Northlands Park. The one-mile race drew five horses and headlines an eight-race card that begins at 6 p.m. Mountain.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 13:54

Kentucky Downs meet ends with typical full fields

If too much of a good thing is not a good thing, well, then maybe Kentucky Downs should just go ahead and end its meet.

Purses and fields have been enormous at the turf-only track in south central Kentucky, where, indeed, a five-day meet comes to its conclusion Wednesday with a 13-race card that starts at 12:35 p.m. Central.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 13:29

Indiana Downs: Crown Ambassador, Indiana Stallion attract big fields

Indiana-sired 2-year-olds take center stage Wednesday with a pair of six-furlong, $85,000 stakes at Indiana Downs. My Crafty Friend tries to remain perfect in the Crown Ambassador for either sex, while Express Model heads a field of 12 in the Indiana Stallion for fillies.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 12:05

Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Puype says Mizdirection will be ready

Benoit & Associates
Mizdirection will make her next start April 13 at either Santa Anita or Keeneland.

The biggest development over the weekend surrounding the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint did not concern a potential prep race. It had to do with a workout, specifically the half-mile breeze Friday in 48.40 seconds around the dogs on the Santa Anita turf course by Mizdirection, the winner of last year’s Turf Sprint.

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 11:23

Breeders' Cup Distaff: Beldame, Zenyatta critical preps

Barbara D. Livingston
Princess of Sylmar is coming off of wins in the Kentucky Oaks and Coaching Club American Oaks.

Grade 1 races Saturday at Belmont Park and Santa Anita will define a Breeders’ Cup Distaff field currently led by the reigning division queen. The $2 million Distaff will be held Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

The Beldame Stakes at Belmont will include Royal Delta, two-time Distaff winner. She faces 3-year-old filly Princess of Sylmar. Plans call for Royal Delta to stay in her division and seek her third Distaff win, though the BC Classic has not been ruled out.