John Servis unintentionally did fellow trainer Ben Feliciano Jr. a huge favor when he scratched Seventeenohsix from last month’s Maryland Million Nursery on the morning of the race. The late defection allowed the Feliciano-trained first-time starter Keep Momma Happy to draw in from the also-eligible list, and the colt capitalized on the opportunity to score a come-from-behind upset at 23-1.
Canterbury Park received approval from the Minnesota Racing Commission on Thursday to conduct a 69-day Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meet in 2013 that will begin May 17 and continue through Sept. 14.
The meet will be Canterbury longest since 2006 when an equal number of days were conducted. Canterbury raced 62 days this year.
Ron Winchell purchased 70 percent interest in Brethren this summer in part because he felt the half-brother to 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver had “stallion potential.” But that’s for another day. Winchell said his immediate goal with Brethren is to “get him back at a graded stakes level,” and on Saturday the horse will move closer to that objective when he starts in the $150,000 Delta Mile.
STICKNEY, Ill. – A horse died Wednesday at Hawthorne Race Course after exhibiting symptoms consistent with the equine herpesvirus, which has infected the backstretch here. Result of herpes tests administered to that animal and another ailing horse in the same barn weren’t available Thursday afternoon, but if herpes is confirmed, it would be a setback in efforts to push the virus out of the Hawthorne stabling area.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Handsome Mike, who won the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in September but was ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 3, will start in the $250,000 Hollywood Derby at Hollywood Park on Nov. 25.
The Grade 1 Hollywood Derby is run over 1 1/4 miles on turf, and is expected to have a large field.
“He deserves a look in there for sure,” trainer Doug O’Neill said.
Amazombie, the champion sprinter of 2011, will have an early 2013 campaign geared to stakes races away from Santa Anita, trainer Bill Spawr said earlier this week.
Amazombie was eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 3, a race preceded by a fourth-place finish on that track in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 6. Spawr said the addition of more than 1,000 tons of sand to the Santa Anita surface during the summer led to a change in the surface that did not suit Amazombie.
“I guess Santa Anita is out of the question, sad to say,” Spawr said.
Since returning to Turf Paradise from Hastings Park in British Columbia, trainer Phil Hall has been looking forward to Saturday’s two turf stakes for 3-year-olds.
He’ll be sending out Racing for Gold in the $35,000 Chandler, a one-mile race for fillies, and The Gov in the $35,000 Jack Coady Sr., a one-mile race for males.
Racing for Gold, who has won both her turf starts at Turf Paradise, is a stakes winner who has hit the board in all nine lifetime starts and will try to go over the $100,000 mark in lifetime earnings Saturday.
The 3-year-old Lucy’s Bob Boy successfully challenged older horses while making his first start beyond seven furlongs in last month’s $450,000 West Virginia Breeders Classic, and he will seek to show his easy victory was no fluke when he clashes with defending champion Plantation and the millionaire Russell Road in Saturday night’s $50,000 A Huevo Stakes at Charles Town.
Los Ojitos and Munnings Sister, a pair of 3-year-old fillies who began their careers running on synthetic and grass surfaces in California, look to continue their success sprinting on dirt when they meet in Saturday’s $125,000 Safely Kept Stakes at Laurel Park.
The seven-furlong Safely Kept drew a field of nine 3-year-old fillies, only two of whom have ever won a stakes.
