Perfecto Diaz, a widely respected groom and hotwalker known throughout tracks in the Midwest, died Friday of injuries sustained during a Wednesday morning training accident at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., according to family members. Diaz was 55.
Diaz died at a local hospital from head trauma sustained in an accident Wednesday, according to close family member Griselda Meraz. Diaz was injured when a loose horse coming off the track collided with him near one of the gap areas.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Liberal Arts is on pace to launch his 3-year-old campaign next Feb. 3 in the Grade 3, $800,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, trainer Robbie Medina said Friday.
The draw for the Kentucky Derby points race will be held Sunday. The first five finishers from the 1 1/16-mile race will earn points on a scale of 20-10-6-4-2.
A month into the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, trainer Mark Glatt has one of the hottest stables in Southern California.
Through Thursday, Glatt had won with 11 of 27 starters since Dec. 26, good enough to be tied for first-place in the standings with Phil D’Amato, who had 55 runners in the same span.
“We’ve hit a hot streak,” Glatt said on Friday. “I know it won’t continue, but we hope it will.”
With a month to go before a start in the richest race of his career, White Abarrio was pronounced fit for the $20 million Saudi Cup by trainer Richard Dutrow, Jr., on Friday.
White Abarrio worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 under exercise rider Emily Ellingwood at Santa Anita on Friday, the 5-year-old’s sixth workout since Christmas Eve for the Saudi Cup at about 1 1/8 miles on dirt in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 24.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- Warm Heart, the favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf, blew out a half-mile in 52.82 seconds Friday morning over the Gulfstream Park main track.
Exercise rider Rachel Richardson was aboard for the move which Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch timed in splits of 13.35 seconds, 26.26, and 52.82. Richardson said a blowout the day before a race is typical for Warm Heart, who is trained by Aidan O’Brien.
Laurel Park has canceled its Friday live racing program, citing the effects of last weekend’s winter storm and ongoing rain, the track’s parent company said on Thursday.
Friday’s 10-race card was scheduled to be the first to be held at the track since Jan. 14. Like many tracks throughout the east, Laurel canceled its Friday, Saturday, and Sunday cards last weekend due to frigid weather conditions and snow.
Jockey Evin Roman, the leading rider at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California, has moved to Kentucky.
The champion apprentice jockey of 2017, Roman, 25, made the transition earlier this week and will have his first mount at Turfway Park on Thursday evening.
Roman said in an interview on Wednesday that the looming closure of Golden Gate Fields in June was the deciding factor in the decision. Golden Gate Fields is the flagship track in Northern California.
Roman said he considered moving away from Northern California in recent years.
General admission tickets, reserved seats and hospitality offerings for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival to be held June 6-9 at Saratoga will go on sale to the general public on Feb. 15, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday.
There will be an advance/presale opportunity available for those who sign up at BelmontStakes.com/pre-sale. Tickets may be purchased at BelmontStakes.com/tickets beginning Feb. 15 at 10 a.m.
There will be 23 stakes worth $10.1 million offered during the four-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival that will be held at Saratoga on June 6-9, with nine races having to be run at different distances than in previous years due to the difference in circumference of Saratoga compared to Belmont Park.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While the $3 million Pegasus World Cup will command the bulk of the attention, and rightly so, here Saturday it is the second race on the card, a maiden special weight seven-furlong dash for 3-year-olds, that could have the most ramifications moving forward. One year ago the world got its first look at 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, who launched his career on the Pegasus undercard with a convincing 3 3/4-length maiden victory for trainer Gustavo Delgado.
