[bc_video_id:289292:]LEXINGTON, Ky. – For a fleeting moment, Gary Contessa had visions of roses. But then Rydilluc began tiring under Edgar Prado in the final furlong of the Blue Grass Stakes, and soon it was back to reality.
That reality is turf, not dirt, as Rydilluc is out of the Kentucky Derby picture and likely will run next in the May 25 Arlington Classic or the new Penn Mile on June 1 at Penn National, Contessa said Monday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Pinball was a 2-5 morning-line favorite for a second-level allowance restricted to New York-breds on March 15, but had to scratch from that race due to a quarter crack.
On Wednesday, he returns in a similar spot, and while he figures to be favored again, the competition for this one-mile race at Aqueduct looks a little deeper than the group he would have faced a month ago.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Old-timers wanting to be here for an entire racing program and yet still make the early bird dinner special in town can have their wish Wednesday, when another abbreviated card is run at Keeneland.
The first of eight Wednesday races will be run at 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the nominal feature, the sixth race, going at 3:40 and the last race at 4:42.
OPELOUSAS, La. – Evangeline Downs begins its first season under new owner Boyd Gaming on Wednesday night. The 84-night stand will run on a Wednesday through Saturday night schedule through Sept. 7. First post each evening will be 5:40 p.m. Central.
Purchased late last year, Evangeline joins fellow Boyd track Delta Downs in Vinton, La., and gives the gaming giant a full 50 percent stake in state’s total number of racing dates.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Jockey Daniel Coa bounced up off the deck after going down in a spill during last Friday’s fifth race at Tampa Bay Downs, let the doctors check him out, took off his next mount as the rules dictated, and then promptly went back out and posted his third and fourth wins on the card. That’s the new Danny Coa.
Coa had gotten off to a quick start, but midway through the meet fell into a slump and was not riding in good form. He was lackluster at times and seemed to have lost the focus that is so crucial to a rider.
Hollywood Park opens its spring-summer meeting on April 25. The Santa Anita winter-spring meeting closes on Sunday.
There are four turf stakes on Saturday and Sunday at Santa Anita, including the $150,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap over about 1 3/4 miles.
Saturday’s main race is the $150,000 Santa Barbara Handicap over 1 1/4 miles for fillies and mares. Lady of Shamrock, who won two Grade 1 races last summer – the American Oaks and Del Mar Oaks – will be a short-priced favorite in her second start of 2013.
Street Game discovered the form that made him the champion 3-year-old New York-bred male in 2011 by cruising to a 2 3/4-length victory in Sunday’s $75,000 Dave Stakes at Aqueduct.
Alex Solis, who was riding one day after high-blood pressure issues forced his removal from his mount on Saturday, was aboard for the front-running victory.
Lubash, another New York-bred, rallied to get second by three-quarters of a length over Hyper. Abilio was fourth and Seal Cove, the 6-5 favorite, finished last.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jerry Hollendorfer has won the Kentucky Oaks three times, and the Hall of Fame trainer may want to give the filly classic another shot after he was represented Sunday by the victorious Ciao Bella Luna in the Grade 2, $150,000 Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland.
Ridden by Joel Rosario, Ciao Bella Luna ran down Magical Moon to win the Beaumont by 2 1/2 lengths. Judy In Disguise, the 2-1 favorite in a field of 11 3-year-old fillies, finished another 2 3/4 lengths behind in third.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The one-two finish by Mizdirection and Schiaparelli in Saturday’s $100,000 Las Cienegas Stakes at Santa Anita gives trainer Mike Puype a deep team of female turf sprinters for the spring.
Sunday, Puype said he plans to send the runners in different directions, with Mizdirection bound for the $500,000 Just a Game Stakes over a mile on turf at Belmont Park on June 8, and Schiaparelli a candidate for the $70,000 Great Lady M Stakes over six furlongs on turf at Betfair Hollywood Park on May 26.
