STICKNEY, Ill. – A Hawthorne-based horse with a fever tested positive for equine herpesivirus last week, but the chief veterinarian for the Illinois Department of Agriculture has kept in place a previously established date for a potential end to the state-imposed quarantine of the track.
Don’t Mach Me will have a little less traffic to negotiate Thursday night at Delta Downs, when he returns to the overnight ranks for a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds bred in Louisiana. He will face six others in the 6 1/2-furlong race run around two turns, one start after encountering his fair share of trouble against eight others in the $150,000 Louisiana Legacy.
Don’t Mach Me finished fifth in the Legacy, a one-mile race run on the Delta Downs Jackpot undercard Nov. 17. He was beaten 3 3/4 lengths.
Walkwithapurpose dominated all the running when posting her third straight victory and getting her first stakes win Monday in the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.
With Jeremy Rose riding the homebred filly for Sagamore Farm and trainer Ignacio Correas, Walkwithapurpose made the lead from her rail post easily in the 7 1/2-furlong race and easily turned back her only real challenger at the quarter pole before cruising to an eight-length score. She returned $4.20 as the slight favorite after finishing in 1:32.67 over a fast main track.
Since defeating fellow Pennsylvania-breds in April 2011, Rascal Flatter has failed 15 times in his quest to clear his first allowance condition against open company. Based on his recent form for his new connections, Rascal Flatter may finally be ready to clear that hurdle in the feature race on Penn National’s first card of the 2013 season Thursday night.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – There were more than a few anxious moments on Dec. 23 when Cotton Pickin made her fourth start in an first-level optional $75,000 claiming race at a mile on Tampa Bay Downs’s turf course, but the High Cotton 2-year-old filly overcame being taken up in the first turn and then worked her way through traffic on the backstretch to outduel a dead game Sea of Laughter for a nose victory.
The win was the second from four career starts for Cotton Pickin and was the latest chapter in her tale.
Charles Town’s average daily handle was a record $1,001,938 during the 2012 season, an increase of 5 percent over the previous mark of $954,280 in 2011.
The track also set a record for total all-sources handle with $227,660,327 wagered on Charles Town’s races.
The record season also included the highest single-card all-sources handle of $3,441,631 on Charles Town Classic Night in April and a record single-race handle of $1,006,798 on the Classic.
All told, average daily handle at Charles Town has grown 30 percent between 2009 and 2012.
Trainer Tony Richey recently signed on to be a private trainer for Royce Roberts, and one of the better horses the men have together will be in action Wednesday night at Delta Downs. She Loves Runnin’ is the one to beat in a first-level allowance for 3-year-old fillies bred in Louisiana. The 6 1/2-furlong race, which is to be run around two turns, is expected to produce starters for next month’s $125,000 Starlet on the Louisiana Premier Night program at Delta.
Horses who racked up multiple wins in the lower claiming ranks during 2012 are liberally sprinkled throughout the lineups of two first-level allowance sprints that highlight the first card of the New Year at Charles Town on Wednesday night.
Both the sixth race, for fillies and mares, and the eighth race offer a purse of $28,000 and will be contested at 4 1/2 furlongs. Both events are open to horses who have not cleared their first allowance condition or nonwinners of two lifetime. Races for a claiming price of $10,000 or less don’t count against eligibility.
ARCADIA, Calif .- For a closer, Qaraaba’s wins have little drama.
She closed from last to win her U.S. debut in an optional claimer by a comfortable 1 1/2 lengths at Betfair Hollywood Park on Nov. 15. In her graded stakes debut in Sunday’s $150,000 Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita, Qaraaba rallied from last of nine to win the Grade 3 race by 1 1/4 lengths with something in reserve.
Ridden by Julien Leparoux, Qaraaba ($7.20) finished 1 1/8 miles on a good turf course in 1:49.20.
The Quarter Horse champion Prospect to the Top won his second consecutive Grade 1 race on Sunday, when he led throughout in the $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park. He won by a half-length over Jess Featureme Quick, while it was another half-length back in third to First Blazin Love.
Prospect to the Top ($7) came into the Championship off a 1 3/4-length win in the Grade 1 Zia Park Distance Championship on Dec. 2. In the race Sunday, he covered 400 yards on a track rated fast in 19.03 seconds. Oscar Rincon rode Prospect to the Top for Joel Tavarez and trainer Brandon Muniz.
