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.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Overlooked at 20-1, Tranche forced attention when he stormed through the stretch to win the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Futurity for 2-year-olds at five furlongs by 7 1/4 lengths on Saturday at Santa Anita.
“I was surprised,” trainer Luis Mendez reflected Sunday. “I thought we had a chance of winning, but not that way.”
As the late champion Arrogate’s legacy as a sire continues to grow, Saratoga Secret is set to become another of the early starters from his final crop in Friday’s second race at Ellis, a $120,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies.
Saratoga Secret, trained by D. Wayne Lukas for BC Stables, was a $200,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. She will have Luis Saez aboard in the field of eight first-time starters.
Thursday’s card opens the race week at Ellis Park and also is the career opener for some pricey 2-year-olds.
The second race on the nine-race card is a $120,000 maiden special weight for juveniles. Daily Grind was a $1.35 million purchase by D. Wayne Lukas, on behalf of BC Stables, at last summer’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. The Medaglia d’Oro colt, who has been training steadily at Churchill Downs, is out of Grade 3 winner Walk Close, by emerging broodmare sire Tapit. That makes Daily Grind a full brother to 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Anneau d’Or.
Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., canceled its Friday live racing card just moments prior to first post after a severe rainstorm swept into the area around noon.
Delaware Park had a nine-race card scheduled for Friday, with the first race scheduled for 12:30. In a release, the track said that “live racing is scheduled to resume” on Saturday, when the track has another nine-race card on the docket.
The New York Racing Association alerted horsemen to a pair of safety initiatives that will be enacted beginning Thursday.
First, a horse that is beaten by more than 12 lengths in five consecutive races will be ineligible to race at NYRA until approved by the NYRA veterinarian department.
Second, horses will be limited to four starts in a rolling eight-week period.
