Thu, 02/14/2013 - 14:44

Gulfstream Park: Lucky Chappy faces tough task in Mac Diarmida

[bc_video_id:284219:]HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Lucky Chappy may be the most talented horse not to have won a race, let alone a graded stakes, in almost 20 months. Trainer Graham Motion is hoping to put an end to that dubious distinction when he sends Lucky Chappy out as one of the favorites Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the $150,000 Mac Diarmida.

Thu, 02/14/2013 - 14:39

Turf Paradise: Derive must prove himself again in Phoenix Gold Cup

Coady Photography
Derive was in top form when he won the Phoenix Gold Cup and Coyote (above) last spring. He enters Saturday's running of the Phoenix Gold Cup off two losses.

PHOENIX – Last year Derive came into the $75,000 Phoenix Gold Cup, the marquee event of the Turf Paradise meet, riding high off a four-race win streak. A game win in the Gold Cup sealed his Horse of the Meet honors. The 7-year-old gelding returns Saturday to defend his title, but his position atop the local heap is much more precarious this time.

The six-furlong Gold Cup is part of a stakes tripleheader Saturday. It goes as race 8 with a field of nine. The card also features the $35,000 Turf Paradise Handicap (race 4) and $35,000 Sun City Handicap (race 7).

Thu, 02/14/2013 - 13:56

Los Alamitos: Winter Derby fastest qualifier Remembering Spence must overcome rail post

ARCADIA, Calif. – Remembering Spence was a colt when he finished third in the Grade 2 Governor’s Cup Futurity at Los Alamitos last July. When he starts in Saturday’s Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby, Remembering Spence will race for the second time as a gelding.

Remembering Spence was gelded last summer, and given the rest of the year off. In his first race of the year, a time trial for the $231,650 Winter Derby on Jan. 26, Remembering Spence won by 1 1/2 lengths. He ran 400 yards in 19.74 seconds, setting the fastest qualifying time for the Winter Derby.

Thu, 02/14/2013 - 13:24

Fair Grounds: Shift of Sarah Lane's Oates to dirt would aid Ante Up Annie

Considering what turf racing has been in 2013 at Fair Grounds – that is, virtually non-existent – it will come as little surprise if the Saturday feature, the $60,000 Sarah Lane’s Oates Stakes, will have to be transferred from the turf to the main track.

This particular instance would not bother Dallas Stewart. Not at all. Stewart trains Ante Up Annie, one of the eight Louisiana-bred 3-year-old fillies in the field, and her chances figure to improve dramatically with a switch to dirt.

Thu, 02/14/2013 - 12:40

Golden Gate: Baffert taking two shots at El Camino Real Derby with Manando and Carving

Benoit & Associates
The Bob Baffert-trained Manando, here running third in the Sham behind Goldencents and Den's Legacy, is the 9-5 El Camino Real Derby favorite.

Trainer Bob Baffert doubled down on Saturday’s 32nd running of the Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields.

Baffert had indicated early in the week that he would ship Carving north to run in the race, which awards 10 points to the winner in the new eligibility system for the Kentucky Derby. When Wednesday’s draw was held, he also entered Manando, who was made the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the field of nine.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

Wed, 02/13/2013 - 17:35

Woodbine eliminates 109 positions as end of slots program nears

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine Entertainment Group, cutting operational costs in anticipation of the end of the racetracks-at-slots program on March 31, has eliminated 109 positions, which amounts to 25 percent of its salaried workforce.

The Woodbine Entertainment Group announced the “restructuring” in a press release late Wednesday afternoon.

Wed, 02/13/2013 - 17:34

Arlington: Dispute arises from track's desire to charge for stall space

A dispute between Arlington Park, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, and the Illinois Racing Board has arisen over language Arlington used on an application for stall space at the track’s 2013 race meet.

The mention of stall rent at a track -- like Arlington --owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated is a hot-button topic because of a similar situation at Calder Race Course in Florida, another CDI track which has seen stall-rent disputes between management and horsemen.

Wed, 02/13/2013 - 17:31

Laurel Park: My Wandy's Girl, Brigand drill for holiday stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
My Wandy's Girl will ship to Laurel for Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap.

Two major players based at Belmont Park spent Wednesday morning training at Aqueduct for this holiday weekend’s graded stakes at Laurel Park.

My Wandy’s Girl, among the choices for Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap, and Brigand, the probable favorite for Monday’s Grade 3, $250,000 General George Handicap, took separate vans from Belmont to Aqueduct on Wednesday to put in workouts for their upcoming stakes engagements.

Wed, 02/13/2013 - 17:22

Gulfstream Park: Uncaptured on road toward Kentucky Derby prep

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography
Kentucky Jockey Club winner Uncaptured (right) could start the year in either the Rushaway or the Spiral, both at Turfway Park on March 23.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Mark Casse reported that his top 3-year-old prospect, the multiple graded stakes winner Uncaptured, worked three furlongs in 35.60 seconds and galloped out a half-mile in 48.60 in Ocala on Wednesday. It was his first work since closing out his juvenile campaign with a neck decision over Frac Daddy in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

Wed, 02/13/2013 - 17:13

Hawthorne: Return to normal would be welcome

STICKNEY, Ill. – On Tuesday morning at Hawthorne Race Course the slop on the inner half of the main track was deep as a creek. At the height of training only a handful of horses picked their way through the soup. One published workout was recorded. The few trainers or assistants braving a chill west wind while trackside shouted at exercise riders to jog, not gallop.