In his last five starts, all two-turn races at distances ranging from one mile to 1 1/8 miles, Tujoes owns three victories, including one in a stakes restricted to Pennsylvania-breds. So why would trainer Steve Klesaris ask the 6-year-old Tujoes to cut back to seven furlongs – a distance where he has been beaten an average of 9 3/4 lengths in his only two starts for Monday’s $53,000 feature at Parx Racing?
Tiz Miz Sue, who was just edged by champion Royal Delta in last year’s Delaware Handicap, is working steadily at Oaklawn Park and could make her 6-year-old debut in either February or March, according to her trainer, Steve Hobby. Her major objective at the Hot Springs, Ark., meet that opens Friday is the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 12.
Fair Grounds Oaks candidate Dancinginthecircle began her 3-year-old season on a high note Friday night at Delta Downs, when she cruised to a nine-length win in the $100,000 By the Light Stakes. With the win Dancinginthecircle also flattered Pure Fun, the eventual Grade 1 winner she had finished second to in a Churchill Downs allowance on Nov. 24.
Mike Repole said he has always been a fan of Johannesburg Smile. Friday, he proved how big a fan when he put up $100,000 to claim the 6-year-old New York-bred out of the third race. Johannesburg Smile won the mile and 70-yard race by a half-length. The horse, previously trained by Dominic Galluscio, will be trained by Todd Pletcher.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Friday was a day of bureaucracy for Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, 49, who rides for the first time in seven years on Sunday.
Friday morning, he was in the California Horse Racing Board offices to reapply for a jockey’s license. Later that day, he was booked for a required physical.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Regardless of how Notacatbutallama fared in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, trainer Todd Pletcher already has at least one runner pointed to next month’s Grade 3, $200,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
Revolutionary, an 8 1/2-length maiden winner here Dec. 28, will remain in New York for the winter and be pointed to the Withers on Feb. 2, Pletcher said.
Trainer Mark Casse said he is in the process of determining where his standout 3-year-old Uncaptured will make his first start of the year after having to scrap the initial plan of running the colt in the Feb. 2 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
Uncaptured, one of as many as four hopefuls for the May 4 Kentucky Derby for Casse, won five stakes at 2, ending with the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. An Ontario-bred owned by John Oxley, Uncaptured is currently stabled in Ocala, Fla.
Boosted by a sizeable increase in betting through account-wagering systems, the 2012 autumn meeting at Betfair Hollywood Park showed an increase in average daily handle of 13.8 percent, according to a statement released by the track on Thursday.
The statement revealed limited parimutuel and attendance data. The track said average handle from all sources was $9.15 million, compared to $8.04 million at the 2011 meeting. Data was compiled for the 24-day meeting that ended on Dec. 16, and from simulcasting revenue through Dec. 23.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Beholder, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in November, zoomed five furlongs in 58.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Friday, leading trainer Richard Mandella to pronounce her ready for her 2013 debut later this month.
Beholder will start in the $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs for 3-year-old fillies on Jan. 21. A leading candidate for the title of champion 2-year-old filly of 2012, Beholder has not started since the BC Juvenile Fillies.
