Jockey William Otero won the 2,000th race of his career aboard 7-5 favorite Burst Away in Thursday night’s second race at Penn National.
Otero, 38, grew up in Puerto Rico and came to the United States in 1995, riding initially at Tampa Bay Downs. He made an impact after moving his tack in 2003 to Penn National, where he was the leading rider in 2004, 2008, and 2009. Otero is 13th all-time at Penn National with 1,475 victories.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Turf racing at Churchill Downs will be limited at the new 12-day September meet, with an average of less than one race per card having been written into the condition book by racing secretary Ben Huffman.
FORT ERIE, Ontario – When Nootsie’s Party won Tuesday’s 10th race at Fort Erie, it capped off a great week for the 36-year-old trainer Kevin Buttigieg, which included an easy win by Catch the Luck in the Puss n Boots Cup Stakes last Sunday.
Buttigieg has a record of 5-2-2 in 11 starts at the Fort Erie meeting, a 45-percent win rate, and his small stable was certainly enhanced with the $8,000 claim at Woodbine of the 8-year-old gelding Catch the Luck.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – An overnight stakes for Sunday at Woodbine failed to fill, leaving a first-level allowance race for fillies and mares as the nominal feature. Awfully Sinful could rule the roost in the 1 1/16-mile event, which is carded as race eight on a 10-race card.
Awfully Sinful went on a mini-roll in the spring, when she romped in both a $20,000 conditioned claimer and an open $25,000 claiming contest, both at 1 1/16 miles. Following a break of nearly two months, she rallied five wide from seventh Aug. 11 to finish second in an allowance race on a speed-favoring track.
ELMONT, N.Y. – The Lumber Guy, who finished second in his return from a six-month layoff, worked a half-mile in 47.90 seconds Thursday over the training track at Belmont Park. He is preparing for a start Sept. 28 in the Grade 1 Vosburgh Invitational, a race he won last year before finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
On Thursday, The Lumber Guy went his first quarter-mile in 24.21 seconds and came through the lane in 23.69.
Ten fillies and mares are entered in the Grade 3, $100,000 Locust Grove at 1 1/16 miles on the Churchill Downs main track – conditions that play to the strength of favored Flashy American.
A late-developing filly who did not win a maiden race until her 11th start last July at Saratoga for a $25,000 claiming tag, Flashy American has since steadily moved up in class with success, becoming a multiple stakes winner and graded-placed.
The reason for her development? Trainer Ken McPeek found her niche.
“Going two turns on the dirt, she’s hickory,” McPeek said.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After spending the better part of the last seven weeks celebrating 150 years of Saratoga history, the New York Racing Association enters a new era on several fronts when Belmont Park opens its 37-day fall meet Saturday.
Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M., has created a $300,000 race for 3-year-old fillies, updated its wagering format, renovated its racing surface, and added two cards to its schedule in key changes made for the 56-date meet that opens on Saturday. The season will run through Dec. 3.
The American Graded Stakes Committee has decided that Monday’s Glens Falls Stakes at Saratoga will remain ungraded, the committee said Thursday.
Originally a Grade 3 scheduled for 1 3/8 miles on Saratoga’s inner turf, the Glens Falls was one of six turf races moved to the main track on Saratoga’s closing day. Six of the original eight entrants in the Glens Falls were scratched, with five horses drawing in off the main-track-only list, including the favorite and winner, Lady Cohiba. It was run at 1 1/8 miles on a muddy track.
