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.
BOSSIER CITY, La. – The season’s first Super Saturday at Louisiana Downs is set for this weekend, with the $100,000 Super Derby Prelude anchoring a 10-race card.
A mini turf festival of sorts will support the Prelude, as the Barksdale Stakes for 3-year-olds and up, the Sunny’s Halo for 2-year-olds, and the Donnie Wilhite Memorial for 2-year-old fillies are all scheduled for the grass. All three $50,000 supporting stakes should be attractive races to bet on since they will have full fields.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The Friday card at Monmouth Park came up surprisingly strong, with four allowances topping the 10-race program.
Surprise stems from the fact that the race office was able to marshal a quartet of solid contests (races 6 through 9) in the aftermath of the Haskell Invitational last Sunday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Uncaptured made a triumphant return to Canada on Tuesday evening, capturing Fort Erie’s $500,000 Prince of Wales for trainer Mark Casse and owner John Oxley.
But the reigning Canadian Horse of the Year probably won’t be sticking around long as he currently is on the farm along with his stablemate Jagger M, and a move back to Churchill Downs probably is in the cards.
COLUMBUS, Neb. – After a 12-week hiatus, live racing returns to Nebraska on Friday evening when Columbus opens a 16-day stand under the control of Columbus Exposition and Racing.
The meet will provide fans a grab bag of wagering angles as many horses and horsemen make their return to the state from tracks in Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. There also appears to be a good number of horses who have not raced since mid-May following the Horsemen’s Park meet, which ended May 12.
The stewards’ investigation into the July 23 race at Fairmount Park in which 70-year-old jockey R.A. “Cowboy” Jones rode the runner-up found no conspiracy among jockeys or trainers, although jockey John Lejeune has been suspended 60 days for an apparent lack of effort when finishing third in the subject race.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Defending Whitney Handicap winner Fort Larned drew post 3 and was installed as the 7-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's 86th renewal of the Whitney Invitational Handicap at Saratoga.
Fort Larned will seek to become the first horse since Discovery to win back-to-back Whitneys. Discovery won three straight from 1934-36. Kelso (1961-63-65) and Commentator (2005, '08) were also multiple winners.
Oaklawn Park has increased the minimum purse for its open-company stakes races to $100,000 and created a “Racing Festival of the South Preview Day” that packs the Rebel, Azeri, and Razorback into a single program. Those changes represent the most significant enhancements to a record $6.1 million stakes schedule released Wednesday. The Hot Springs, Ark., track opens for a 57-date meet Jan. 10.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Carla Gaines is set to begin a 30-day suspension on Thursday, the result of having two of her female horses test positive for an excessive amount of testosterone in July 2012.
Gaines on Tuesday ran out of legal maneuvers to stop or delay the suspension. Her request for a temporary restraining order in Los Angeles County Superior Court was denied by Judge Luis Lavin. She was represented by trainer Darrell Vienna, who is also an attorney.
Uncaptured, biding his time in fifth place under a patient Miguel Mena, rallied five wide into the stretch and ran down River Seven for a one-length victory in Tuesday’s $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie.
Sent off as the 2-5 choice in the field of six for the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales, Uncaptured gave his backers some anxious moments down the backstretch.
