Tue, 02/19/2013 - 15:19

Santa Anita: Pick 6 carryover, uncertain forecast add spice to Thursday card

Benoit & Associates
Bright Thought is the lone speed in the race-5 feature, whether is is run on turf or dirt.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita bettors aiming at the $113,777 pick-six carryover on Thursday might wait until the storm expected early this week blows through and late changes are announced before handicapping the sequence.

Three races in the pick six are scheduled for turf. Rain could influence the conditions of those races, including a 1 1/4-mile race with a novel alternative for distance depending on track condition.

After he monitored the forecast, racing secretary Rick Hammerle recognized rain could jeopardize the race-5 allowance.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 15:15

Gulfstream Park: Cigar Street bound for stakes

Tom Keyser
Cigar Street wins an allowance race at Gulfstream on Sunday. Trainer Bill Mott is considering sending him to the Skip Away at Gulfstream or the Oaklawn Handicap.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Bill Mott not only won all three graded stakes decided here this past weekend, he also sent out the up-and-coming older horse Cigar Street to an impressive allowance win Sunday. Cigar Street led throughout to register a 2 1/2-length decision over Big Screen going 1 1/8 miles for his second straight victory since returning from nearly nine months on the sidelines due to a hairline fracture in his right hind ankle.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 14:45

Aqueduct: Ortiz brothers center stage on Thursday card

One of the winter’s best races has been the battle between Irad Ortiz Jr. and his younger brother Jose, who enter the last few weeks of the winter meet tied for the lead with 54 victories, 13 ahead of their closest pursuer.

Their sibling rivalry renews in Thursday’s second race, a $59,000 optional claiming route for New York-bred fillies and mares that serves as the nominal feature.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 14:38

Santa Anita: The Lumber Guy back in San Carlos

Susie Raisher
The Lumber Guy will return to racing on Saturday in the San Carlos Stakes.

A disrupted start to 2013 appears to be behind The Lumber Guy, a Grade 1 winner in 2012.

After finishing seventh in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, The Lumber Guy was briefly sidelined with a bruised foot, missing an expected start in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes over six furlongs here Jan. 19. He returns to racing in Saturday’s $200,000 San Carlos Stakes over seven furlongs.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 14:34

Pimlico stakes get purse hikes with casino money

Pimlico Race Course has increased the purses for a large number of its stakes races for 2013, including a $200,000 bump for the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, as the track’s share of subsidies from Maryland casinos accumulates.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 14:31

Santa Anita: Track to hold Photo Day on Friday

Amateur photographers will have the run of Santa Anita on Friday when the track hosts its first Photo Day this year.

A successful promotion in the past, Photo Day provides photographers with an up-close look at morning workouts, a chance to meet trainers, a stable tram tour, and an opportunity to shoot races in the afternoon.

Registered photographers will be granted access to the track’s paddock and winner’s circle during racing.

Advance registration is available for $20 on the track’s website, santaanita.com, or on the day of the event from 7:30 a.m. for $25.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 14:17

Gulfstream Park: Prado back in Hall of Fame form

Barbara D. Livingston
Graydar goes wire to wire in the Donn under jockey Edgar Prado.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Hall of Fame rider Edgar Prado entered the 2012-13 Gulfstream Park meet with a new agent and high hopes, but not a lot of established business to hang his helmet on.

Eleven weeks into the session, Prado has himself a Grade 1 winner, a clientele base that is growing on a daily basis, and is riding as good as any jockey on the grounds.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 14:05

Santa Anita: Mizdirection's plans call for mix of turf sprints, miles

Benoit & Associates
Mizdirection wins the one-mile, Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita on Monday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mizdirection will run in a mix of turf sprints and miles in coming months after reaffirming her versatility with an impressive win in Monday’s $150,000 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita.

The Grade 2 Buena Vista was Mizdirection’s first start at a mile on turf since August 2011 and has left trainer Mike Puype with options throughout the nation this spring and summer.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 13:23

Santa Anita business a mixed bag

Boosted by account wagering, all-sources handle was up 3 percent at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting through Sunday, according to track president George Haines.

But ontrack handle had declined by approximately 15 percent, which Haines attributed to wet weather and can be largely recovered before the meeting ends on April 21, he said. Sunday was the 34th day of the 71-day meeting, which began on Dec. 26.

“The first half of the meet we had some inclement weather that slowed things down with ontrack attendance and handle,” he said.

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 13:14

Gulfstream: Integrity trying more ground

Bob Coglianese
Integrity has worked three times since his impressive debut victory, including a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.40 on Feb. 10 at Palm Meadows.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Integrity, one of the more exciting 3-year-old maiden winners at a meet that has already been chock-full of exciting 3-year-old maiden winners, will attempt to carry his abundant speed an additional eighth of a mile when he stretches to seven furlongs for the first time in Thursday’s $54,500 second-race optional claimer at Gulfstream Park.