Sat, 11/10/2012 - 16:46

Calder: Cash Rules takes Carl G. Rose start to finish

Coady Photography @ Calder Casino & Race Course
Cash Rules, under Luis Saez, goes wire to wire in the Carl G. Rose.

MIAMI - Cash Rules had to work a little harder than expected but in the end, the 1-5 favorite got the job done, leading throughout to post a 1 1/2-length victory over He's Spectacular in Saturday's $150,000 Carl G. Rose Classic at Calder.

Sat, 11/10/2012 - 16:06

Hollywood Park: Ellis's three Breeders' Cup runners will race again next year

Tom Keyser
Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile runner-up Rail Trip will race next year at age 8.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Ron Ellis had three runners in the Breeders’ Cup, and while none of them won, two finished in the money, and, best news of all for the trainer, it appears all three will remain in training for 2013.

The best-known of Ellis’s trio is Rail Trip, who rallied for second in the Dirt Mile behind Tapizar after finding himself caught in traffic for much of the race.

“It was a tough track to close on,” Ellis said the other morning at Betfair Hollywood Park. “He’s not used to running that way. I was pretty proud of him.”

Sat, 11/10/2012 - 15:33

Mountaineer: Captain Genius at his best for the Sophomore Sprint

Captain Genius is at the top of his game, and trainer Joe Woodard feels like Tuesday’s $85,000 Mountaineer Sophomore Sprint is a perfect spot for his 3-year-old to get his third win in four starts at Mountaineer.

“He was in with a super bunch older horses in his last, and although this is a tough race, I think it is an easier spot than his last,” Woodard said.

Woodard noted that the winner of Captain Genius’s last race, St Maximus Gato, “is a well established older sprinter,” and he called the second-place horse, Mega Rush, “a winning machine.”

Sat, 11/10/2012 - 14:27

Churchill Downs: Albarado switching winter base to Gulfstream

 LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Did they stop making jambalaya down there in New Orleans? What’s with this exodus of Cajun jockeys to south Florida for the winter?

“Pretty funny, huh?” asked Robby Albarado, one of a trio of notable riders who are forsaking their Louisiana homeland and Fair Grounds this winter to ride instead at Gulfstream Park, which starts a four-month meet Dec. 1. “We all have our different reasons for going. I’m just looking to make some inroads with some new people, hopefully pick up a nice 3-year-old.”

Sat, 11/10/2012 - 14:22

Churchill Downs: Take Charge Indy ready for the Clark

Barbara D. Livingston
Florida Derby winner Take Charge Indy has only started once since the Kentucky Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Take Charge Indy breezed three furlongs Saturday in 35.60 seconds over a fast main track at Churchill Downs with regular rider Calvin Borel aboard, in the colt’s first workout since he finished third in his comeback race, the Oct.  27 Fayette Stakes.

Take Charge Indy and Borel won the Florida Derby before finishing 19th in the May 5 Kentucky Derby, from which the colt exited with an ankle injury. He led most of the way before finishing third, beaten 2 1/2 lengths, in the Fayette at Keeneland.

Sat, 11/10/2012 - 09:09

Remington Park: King Henny holds on in Clever Trevor

Dustin Orona Photography
King Henny digs in under Jamie Theriot to win the Clever Trevor Stakes.

King Henny fought off a pack of challengers to win the first stakes race of his career Friday night in the $100,000 Clever Trevor for 2-year-olds at Remington Park. The Drifter, the favorite seeking his third stakes win, was pulled up after leading the field through an opening quarter. The race was a prep for the $300,000 Springboard Mile on Dec. 9.  

Fri, 11/09/2012 - 17:31

Aqueduct: N.Y. Stallion Stakes divisions top card

Tom Keyser
Matchmadeinheaven is 3 for 3 in her career, with all three starts coming in New York-bred stakes

A pair of $125,000 New York Stallion Series races for 2-year-olds share top billing on Sunday’s nine-race program.

The Great White Way division for colts and geldings (race 3) and the Fifth Avenue division for fillies (race 8) each drew seven-horse fields.

Two other Stallion Series races for older sprinters, the Thunder Rumble and Staten Island, were rescheduled for Wednesday after failing to fill.

Fri, 11/09/2012 - 17:26

Hollywood Park: Reneesgotzip to stretch out in Matriarch

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The pace will be softer but the distance will be farther when sprinter Reneesgotzip stretches to a mile on turf in the Matriarch at Betfair Hollywood Park on Nov. 25.

Reneesgotzip finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita, missing by a 1 3/4 lengths after chasing a blazing pace.

Fri, 11/09/2012 - 17:19

Delta Downs: Jackpot runners to arrive Tuesday and Wednesday

Flights bringing horses to Louisiana for the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot and Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess are due to arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to officials with Tex Sutton Forwarding Company. The horses are scheduled to fly into Lake Charles, La., which is about 30 miles from Delta.

The Jackpot and Princess head a card of eight stakes worth $2.2 million on Saturday, Nov. 17.

Fri, 11/09/2012 - 16:31

Hollywood Park: Scarlet Strike gets test in Sharp Cat Stakes

Benoit & Associates
Scarlet Strike is using Saturday's Sharp Cat as a prep for the Starlet.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Scarlet Strike would have been up against in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies – racing without Lasix on a speed-favoring track at Santa Anita.

Rather than subject the stretch-running filly to compromising conditions, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer postponed resumption of her fall campaign until Sunday, when Scarlet Strike returns as the favorite in the $100,000 Sharp Cat Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

“We think she’s an improving horse that is going to do better as the distances get longer,” Hollendorfer said.