ELMONT, N.Y. – Absent from the Kentucky Derby for the first time in three years, Team Valor International holds out some hope for making the Belmont Stakes with recent acquisition Infinite Magic, who runs in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park.
A Kentucky-bred son of More Than Ready, Infinite Magic raced exclusively on synthetic surfaces in Great Britain before winning a second-level allowance race on turf at Keeneland last month.
AUBURN, Wash. – A $12,500 claimer for older fillies and mares will serve as the feature race Saturday at Emerald Downs. The 5 1/2-furlong dash attracted a field of six and will go as the eighth of nine races on a card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Rain would be an unwelcome guest Saturday at Arlington, where the two best races are carded for grass.
The first of them is the featured third race, a third-level allowance also open to $80,000 claimers and headlined by Miz Ida, a Kentucky shipper trained by Steve Margolis making her 4-year-old debut. Miz Ida hasn’t started since November, and her connections – Margolis and the Klein family – surely hope to use Saturday’s comeback as a stepping-stone to stakes.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Worldventurer won’t have to face the Preakness-bound Departing on Saturday, when he returns to the restricted ranks for a division of the $75,000 Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park. The one-mile race for 3-year-old colts and geldings by eligible sires is one of three stakes on the card. The program also features a $75,000 fillies division of the Stallion Stakes and the $50,000 Lane’s End Stallion Scholarship for fillies and mares bred in Texas.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – It always pays to give Todd a handicapping nod in a Monmouth Park stakes.
That certainly applies to $75,000 Decathlon Stakes on Saturday, the feature event on the 12-race opening day card. First post will be 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
Todd Pletcher entered a pair in the six-furlong Decathlon: Travelin Man and Soaring Stocks.
Pletcher’s record in Monmouth stakes the past four seasons is outstanding. He captured five stakes in 2009 to share the top spot at the meet with Larry Jones and John Forbes.
ELMONT, N.Y. – While trainer Chad Brown ponders whether to run Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Normandy Invasion back in the Preakness next Saturday, he hopes to find out this Saturday whether or not he has a contender for the Belmont Stakes.
At Belmont Park, Brown sends out Saint Vigeur in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes, a wide-open race that could yield a starter or two for the $1 million Belmont on June 8.
Calder Race Course and Florida’s horsemen have reached a temporary agreement that will restore the track’s signal at out-of-state simulcast sites and on account-wagering operations, officials for the track said on Thursday.
The two sides reached the short-term agreement on Thursday morning, allowing some sites and ADW operators to offer Calder’s card that afternoon. The agreement expires on June 2, giving Calder and its horsemen three weeks to work out a long-term deal.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Betfair Hollywood Park will close for racing and training at the end of this year, track employees were informed in a letter Thursday.
The letter, written by track president Jack Liebau, confirmed what has been widely expected after track management stated that Hollywood Park would eventually be closed and the property developed for residential and commercial uses.
The 75-year-old track will continue its current spring-summer meeting through July 14 and will conduct its final meeting in the autumn, from Nov. 7 through Dec. 22.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If Bill Connelly isn’t careful, the 5-year-old mare Sweet Cassiopeia is going to become a very familiar name to horseplayers – whether or not they can pronounce it.
Sweet Cassiopeia has turned into a win machine, and she will be favored for a sixth straight when she faces 10 other filly-mare turf sprinters in the nominal Saturday feature at Churchill Downs, a $65,000 overnight stakes called the Unbridled Sidney.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Like a good neighbor, Monmouth Park was there when Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Jersey Shore last fall.
After a painful winter of recovery and the rebuilding of devastated homes and businesses, the racetrack and the community are fighting back.
The best evidence of the renewal comes Saturday when Monmouth kicks off its 2013 season. The track has invited 40 local businesses to set up booths, promoting the theme that “The Shore is open for business.”
