Thu, 04/18/2013 - 19:49

Santa Anita pick six carryover at $370K

ARCADIA, Calif. - There is a two-day carryover of $370,763 for Friday’s pick six at Santa Anita.

Consecutive wins by Becky Lou ($66.20) and Song of a Witch ($75.40) on Thursday eliminated most tickets. Going into Thursday’s final race, Medusalina was the only horse covered in the pick six. The filly finished fourth in a race won by 9-1 Warren’s Flasher.

Friday’s pick six pool could grow by more than $1.2 million. The bet covers the third through eighth races on a program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 17:27

Keeneland: Unbelievable Dream takes Appalachian; Rosario wins five on day

Barbara D. Livingston
Joel Rosario celebrates his fifth winner on Thursday's Keeneland card, aboard Unbelievable Dream in the Appalachian.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jockey Joel Rosario capped a sensational Thursday afternoon at Keeneland by guiding Unbelievable Dream to a last-to-first victory in the Grade 3, $100,000  Appalachian Stakes.

After Rosario bided his time early, Unbelievable Dream came absolutely rolling to be up in the final strides of the one-mile turf race by a half-length over Overheard. Eden Prairie was third, while Watsdachances, the 3-5 favorite in a field of eight 3-year-old fillies, could do no better than fourth in her seasonal debut.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 17:08

Santa Anita: Tokyo City one-two meeting on turf in San Juan Capistrano

Benoit & Assoicates
Sky Kingdom will be racing on turf for the first time in the San Juan Capistrano.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Sky Kingdom and Oilisblackgold, the first two finishers of the Grade  3 Tokyo City Stakes over 1 1/2 miles on dirt March 23, are switching surfaces for Sunday’s San Juan Capistrano at 1 3/4 miles on grass.

They are part of a projected field of seven that includes All Squared Away, Fire With Fire, and Interaction, who were second through fourth in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes on March 16; and Smart Ellis, who won an optional claimer over 1 1/8 miles on March 3. Lime Rickey, third in an optional claimer on March 22, is another expected runner.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 17:01

Hawthorne: Disposablepleasure, Brushed by a Star clash in Sixty Sails

Barbara D. Livingston
Disposablepleasure won her only start this year after going winless in seven races in 2012.

STICKNEY, Ill. – With more top-level racehorses than any trainer in North America, Todd Pletcher leaves no stone unturned when hunting for graded-stakes opportunities, and he almost always has entrants for the only two graded races remaining on Chicago’s spring calendar.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 16:54

Santa Anita: Beholder works half-mile preparing for Kentucky Oaks

Shigeki Kikkawa
Beholder will travel to Churchill Downs at the end of this month for the Kentucky Oaks on May 3.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Beholder, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2012 and the winner of two Grade 1 stakes this year, worked a half-mile in 49.40 seconds at Santa Anita on Thursday.

The workout was the first for Beholder since her win in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on April 6, and the first of two works at her home track before she is shipped to Churchill Downs at the end of this month for the Kentucky Oaks on May 3.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 16:37

Emerald Downs: 123 wager designed to appeal to casual fans

AUBURN, Wash. – There’s a new option on the wagering menu at Emerald Downs this year. It’s called the 123, and it might take some time for players to get used to it.

In a nutshell, it’s a modified pick six in which the better selects one horse in each of the final six races on the card and then accumulates points based on the horses’ across-the-board payoffs. The $2 ticket stays “live” for all six races in the sequence, and when all is said and done, the ticketholder with the most points collects 60 percent of the pool.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 16:33

Aqueduct: Chad Brown has strong pair in turf route

Tom Keyser
Shakeira is 2 for 3 and should handle the turf if expected rain makes the footing soft.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In lieu of a stakes, a pair of second-level allowance races – one on turf, one on dirt – serve as the co-features on the final Saturday program at Aqueduct.

The stakes scheduled for Saturday, the $75,000 Road Princess, was instead carded for Sunday featuring the graded stakes-winning 3-year-old filly Kauai Katie.

Saturday’s eighth, a $69,000 second-level allowance scheduled for 1 1/16 miles for the turf, is a competitive event headed by the uncoupled Chad Brown-trained entry of Shakeira and Deanaallen’skitten.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 16:04

Illinois Derby has 14 at Hawthorne chasing $750,000

Jack Coady/Coady Photography
Departing, who finished third in the Louisiana Derby last out, is being pointed toward the $750,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne on April 20.

STICKNEY, Ill. – For those accustomed to Hawthorne’s daily fare, $5,000 claimers with $10,000 pots, the purse for the eighth race on Saturday’s card, the Illinois Derby, hits like a ton of bricks: $750,000.

“For that kind of money, you’ve got to take a shot,” said trainer Steve Hobby.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 16:03

Lexington Stakes: McPeek predicts victory for Pure Fun

Benoit & Associates
Pure Fun (No. 1), the winner of the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet in December, drew the far-outside No. 11 post for the Coolmore Lexington Stakes.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Coolmore Lexington Stakes is known as a final stop on the road to Churchill Downs, although that’s meant in the context of the Kentucky Derby.

The maxim might well hold true again Saturday, when the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington is run at Keeneland, but in this case, the 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race could prove a stepping-stone to the Kentucky Oaks and not the Derby.

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 16:01

Santa Anita: Bourbon Bay retired

Barbara D. Livingston
Bourbon Bay won his last race in the 2012 San Juan Capistrano.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Bourbon Bay, the winner of the San Juan Capistrano in 2010 and 2012 at Santa Anita and five other stakes in Southern California, has been retired, trainer Neil Drysdale said.

Drysdale had Bourbon Bay nominated for Sunday’s $150,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap, but decided to end the career of the 7-year-old gelding after talking with owner David Heerensperger. Bourbon Bay worked six furlongs at Betfair Hollywood Park last Monday before the decision was made on retirement.