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.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
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.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockey Edgar Prado announced his retirement on Tuesday, officially ending a career spanning 37 years that featured 7,119 victories, purse earnings in excess of $272 million, three Triple Crown race winners, an Eclipse Award, and his 2008 induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
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.
Danjer, a 17-time stakes winner at seven tracks and one of the most successful Quarter Horses in history, died on Sunday from the effects of an aneurysm in the stables at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.
The news was first reported by TRACK Magazine.
Danjer was 7. He won 22 of 35 starts and earned $2,499,432, placing him third on the all-time money earnings list behind Ochoa ($2,781,365) and Kj Desparado ($2,772,603).
Skinner, unraced since a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8, is scheduled to start in the $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby at Los Alamitos on July 8 as a prep for more prominent national stakes later in the summer.
“If we want to do something ambitious, we need to get a race,” trainer John Shirreffs said on Sunday.
Shirreffs mentioned the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on July 29 as potential goal for Skinner. The Los Alamitos Derby is also run at 1 1/8 miles.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Grand Slam Smile, winner of Saturday’s $98,000 Fasig-Tipton Debutante for 2-year-old fillies at Santa Anita, is a California-bred filly who could start at Del Mar in statebred stakes or graded stakes.
Trained by Steve Specht for owners and breeders Larry and Marianne Williams, Grand Slam Smile is unbeaten in two starts. She won her debut in a maiden race at 4 1/2 furlongs on the synthetic main track on May 14 at Golden Gate Fields, and closed from third in a field of four in the Fasig-Tipton Debutante at five furlongs on dirt to win by a half-length.