DEL MAR, Calif. – A win in the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park in June has changed Byrama’s career.
A 4-year-old filly, Byrama raced primarily at six furlongs to a mile before winning the $250,000 Vanity over 1 1/8 miles on Hollywood’s synthetic main track. For the second half of the year, the focus will be on longer races, including Saturday’s $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Coming off a terrific 4-year-old season in which he won three stakes and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Mucho Macho Man entered 2013 as one of the leaders of the older male division.
In a move to preserve live racing and simulcasting rights at Agricultural Park in Columbus, Neb., five area businessmen have formed a nonprofit to put on the 16-date meet that opens Friday. The Columbus Exposition and Racing group is taking over operations from the Platt County Agricultural Society, which did not seek race dates for 2013.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Carla Gaines sat in the Del Mar grandstand at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, watching a few of her horses go through workouts. In many ways, it was a typical morning for Gaines, answering phone calls while overseeing the action on the racetrack.
It was also the last such morning for Gaines until the end of August.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Back from an injury and back in Saratoga with a race under her belt, Madame Giry looks poised to return to her winning ways in Friday’s $100,000 Caress Stakes for filly and mare turf sprinters at Saratoga.
Madame Giry will face seven rivals in the Caress, scheduled for 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon turf course, including last year’s 19-1 upset winner, Rosa Salvaje.
The man who runs Los Alamitos had some of the fastest horses running at Los Alamitos last Saturday.
Ed Allred, the track’s owner and one of the nation’s most prominent Quarter Horse owners and breeders, won two of the three six-figure stakes on the California Champions Night last weekend.
Terlani was lucky to survive a horrific training accident at Hastings last year, but she appears to be on top of her game heading into the $50,000 Madamoiselle Handicap at Northlands Park on Friday. The mile and a sixteenth race for fillies and mares drew seven horses and headlines an eight-race card that begins at 6 p.m. Pacific.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Occasional View returns to Woodbine in sharp form for Friday’s $89,400 feature, and will likely be favored in the turf allowance, which serves as the prep for the Grade 2 Play the King Stakes on Aug. 25.
Occasional View is based at Presque Isle Downs with trainer Graham Motion, who sent him out to win two allowances there this year on the Tapeta surface. Most recently, he came charging from fifth to score comfortably over the next-out winner Dazzled Saint. He earned a career high 96 Beyer Speed Figure in that six-furlong optional event.
CHESTER, W.Va. – The easiest way to pick the winner of the West Virginia Derby in recent years has been to take Steve Asmussen at a square price. From eight starters in the premier race at Mountaineer Racetrack, Asmussen has won four times, all of them since 2005.
DEL MAR, Calif. – After a series of races going two turns, on dirt, synthetic, and turf, Tiz a Minister returns to a sprint on Friday at Del Mar in the featured $200,000 Real Good Deal Stakes, and while he looks like one of the top two contenders in the race, make no mistake that this is a means to an end.
“I’m hoping to run him in the Del Mar Derby at the end of the meet,” said his trainer, Paul Aguirre.
