Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has received city approval for a 58,085 square-foot addition to its grandstand in a project scheduled to begin in May 2014.
The addition would expand the track’s gaming center, allowing for 500 player positions to be added to the existing 1,000 positions, according to documents from the city of Hot Springs. The expansion was confirmed by Jennifer Hoyt, a spokesperson for Oaklawn.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Itsmyluckyday continues a comfortable recovery from a small fracture of a hip bone suffered while challenging Verrazano in the Pegasus Stakes here on June 16.
The colt, second to Oxbow in the Preakness, is confined to four months of stall rest at trainer Eddie Plesa's barn at Monmouth.
"He's doing great," Plesa said. "He's doing fantastic."
And he's not doing much of anything, letting the injury heal on its own.
Seven stakes winners are among the nine horses entered in the $40,000 Front Range at Arapahoe Park on Sunday. The field for the seven-furlong race includes the winners of the meet’s last two sprint stakes, E F Five and No It Ain’t, as well as defending Front Range winner Hezamazing and sharp Idaho invader Memo to Mya.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Thursday’s $150,000 Swaps Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles will have a small field. As of Friday, the probable starters included Chief Havoc, Dice Flavor, Java’s War, Tiz a Minister, and Power Broker.
Pay the Man has a good chance to return to her winning ways for trainer Miguel Feliciano when racing at her favorite distance over her favorite track Sunday.
The 9-year-old mare will face five other older Ohio-bred fillies and mares in the $50,000 J. William Petro Memorial Handicap at Thistledown. Pay the Man has won 17 of her 25 starts at Thistledown and is a perfect 6 for 6 lifetime at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Petro.
Lotta Lovin will be looking for her second win of the year in the $100,000 Windward Stakes on Sunday. The Windward, a one-mile race for fillies and mares over Presque Isle’s Tapeta surface, drew a field of 10.
Trained by Mike Maker, Lotta Lovin won her first start of the year in the $50,000 Likely Exchange at Turfway Park on Jan. 19. After some time off, the 4-year-old filly finished fifth in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland in April. Most recently she was third, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the 1 1/8-mile Arlington Matron on May 25.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Jockey Patrick Valenzuela said on Thursday that he hopes to return to riding this summer at Del Mar after an eight-month absence caused by knee problems.
Valenzuela said he plans to meet with a doctor on Friday, seeking clearance to resume exercising horses. He said he underwent surgery in March to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Friday proved to be an eventful day on the combative south Florida racing circuit. Gulfstream Park drew entries for Monday’s eight-race card, the first program of the track’s inaugural summer meeting, while at the same time Calder officials instituted a “restricted access policy” that prohibits horses stabled at its track from re-entering the grounds if they ship to race at Gulfstream.
AUBURN, Wash. – After medics restarted his heart, and surgeons implanted stents to save his life, Gallyn Mitchell wasted very little time trying to reinvigorate his riding career. Emerald Downs’s all-time leading rider was back on horses last week, galloping runners in the morning, and then climbed aboard the 3-year-old colt Forin Sea on Saturday afternoon and guided him to a third-place finish in an allowance race.
