SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There was a mad rush to the entry box for Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Sword Dancer Invitational at Saratoga as the 1 1/2-mile turf race drew a field of 13 colts and geldings.
Fair Grounds in New Orleans opens for its sixth season of Quarter Horse racing on Friday with a full slate of trials. The nine races are qualifiers for the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association Sale Futurity, which will be run on the meet’s closing day, Sept. 7.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Oscar Party, purchased for $510,000 by Deron Pearson at the Del Mar Paddock Sale on July 22, starts from the rail in Friday’s $90,000 Sandy Blue Handicap at Del Mar.
It is a race that she is overqualified to win.
AUBURN, Wash. – Politicallycorrect, runner-up in a Grade 3 sprint stakes at Saratoga in his last start, drew post position 3 Wednesday morning when entries were taken for Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs.
Rob Rao, Emerald Downs’ linemaker, installed Politicallycorrect as the 7-2 morning-line favorite, with Herbie D, a romping winner in the final local Longacres Mile prep race, next at 4-1 in a full field of 12. Politicallycorrect and Herbie D will start as co-highweights at 121 pounds.
AUBURN, Wash. –Vann Belvoir plans to enjoy his homecoming in the Pacific Northwest when he returns to Emerald Downs to saddle Gladding on Sunday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile. But for the trip to be profitable on the business end for the Southern California-based trainer, Gladding will need to be more cooperative than he was for his previous connections in 2012, when Gladding shipped north as the pre-race favorite for John Sadler, only to spike a fever and miss the race.
Remington Park in Oklahoma City begins its 25th anniversary season Friday night with much on the horizon. Alternation and Prayer for Relief will be in action Saturday in the $175,000 Governor’s Cup, the Oklahoma Derby has been reinstated to Grade 3 status for its Sept. 29 renewal, and a $100,000 race for 2-year-old fillies has been created to share the card with the closing-day $250,000 Springboard Mile for 2-year-olds on Dec. 15.
Remington also has rolled out a new integrity policy, adjusted its post times, and welcomed a handful of new jockeys and stables.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – On paper, Dayatthespa looked like a major contender in the Diana Stakes here three weeks ago. But on the track, Dayatthespa looked like she wasn’t ready for the effort needed to compete in a Grade 1 race, according to trainer Chad Brown.
BOSSIER CITY, La. – Louisiana’s best horses, riders, and trainers are set to converge on Louisiana Downs on Saturday for Louisiana Cup 2013. Eight stakes, all restricted to Louisiana-breds, will be worth a combined $570,000.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Reade Baker barn was cooking here last Saturday and Sunday, sending out five winners from eight starters. And Baker will look to transfer that winning touch to a couple of turf stakes here this weekend, with Big Brown Brookski and She’s Popular going postward for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Ontario Colleen and Scipio set for Sunday’s $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Great Canadian Gaming Corporation announced Tuesday that Hastings general manager Raj Mutti is leaving the Vancouver track to play a pivotal role in rebranding and renovating the Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam, British Columbia, into the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver. Mutti has been named executive director of the Hard Rock Casino, which is expected to open this winter. Great Canadian is the parent company of Hastings and the owner of the Boulevard Casino.
