GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – The popular multiple graded stakes winner Rated R Superstar has been retired from racing and is scheduled to ship next week to Old Friends, owner Danny Caldwell said Friday.

Old Friends is a Thoroughbred retirement facility in Georgetown, Ky. Rated R Superstar won 13 of 70 starts for earnings of $1.8 million. The 10-year-old gelding has been galloping at Lone Star Park.

Caldwell said his wife, Allison, has been working on the retirement plans with Old Friends the last few days and the couple announced the decision Friday. 

There will be a pick six carryover of $43,810 into Friday’s card at Belmont Park. The $1 bet will run on races 4-9.

The pick six went unsolved Thursday on a card that saw 42-1 shot Tryinmyheartout ($87) wire the eighth race for a neck win over Lifelovenlaughter. Tickets with 5 of 6 winners returned $521.50.

New York-bred horses running in open maiden special weight races and open allowance races will be eligible for purse bonuses when racing on the New York circuit during the upcoming Saratoga Race Course meet beginning July 13.

Funeral services were held earlier this month for owner and breeder Nick Cafarchia, who died after a recent illness on June 5.

Cafarchia was 84.

A native of Bari, Italy, Cafarchia emigrated to the United States in 1959 and within two years had acquired Eagle Rock Italian Bakery in Los Angeles, which remains the family business.

Cafarchia won more than 100 races with a small stable led by Grade 2 winners Road to Slew and Rare Charmer, and stakes winners Anziyan Royalty and My Summer Slew, all trained by Craig Dollase for all or part of their careers.

In the last two years, Count Again has been prominent in early season graded stakes on turf in California, but did not start after Labor Day.

This year, Count Again’s season has been delayed with the hope the 8-year-old gelding can be a factor in major stakes in the summer and autumn.

On Thursday at Santa Anita, Count Again worked five furlongs in 1:01 on the infield training track in preparation for a start next month at Del Mar.

A one-hour live-television broadcast on NBC of the Stephen Foster Stakes on July 1 has been removed from the schedule due to “logistical concerns” created by the relocation of the race from Churchill Downs in Louisville to Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., Breeders’ Cup said on Thursday.

Assael Espinoza, the leading rider at Golden Gate Fields earlier this year, is returning to Southern California.

Espinoza, 23, will be based at Santa Anita working horses and riding occasional races at Los Alamitos in coming weeks before moving to Del Mar for the start of the track’s summer meeting on July 21. Ezpinoza is booked on two mounts on Friday’s opening day of the three-week Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Los Alamitos.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – The up-and-coming jockey Rene Diaz is headed to Del Mar after the close of the Lone Star Park meet on July 4. He will be represented in Southern California by agent Jose Santos Jr. 

“He wants to try to become an even better rider,” Santos said of testing his skills at Del Mar.

Diaz, 23, won his first race in 2021 at Gulfstream Park. He is having an outstanding meet at Lone Star, where he ranked third in the standings through Monday. Diaz had won 30 races from 155 starts, and his mounts have earned $718,443.