AUBURN, Wash. – One of 26 horses nominated to the Grade 3 Longacres Mile, Bailouttheminister is likely to be included among the fortunate dozen when weights are released Saturday. Only 12 can start Aug. 19, with high weights preferred, and a full field is expected.
It is hard to say who was more impressive winning their respective races on B.C. Cup Day at Hastings this past Monday: Taylor Said or Taylors Deal.
Taylor Said kicked off the six stakes races for B.C.-breds with an easy 6 1/4-length win over Tommy Danzigger in the $75,000 B.C. Cup Classic for 3-year-olds and up. The 128 pounds he carried didn’t slow him down a bit in the 1 1/8-mile race, and if there were any concerns about him being able to rate going a middle distance they were dismissed after he settled in comfortably behind Tommy Danzigger for the first six furlongs.
After trying to keep up with Commander in the Journal and Spangled Jimmy, Salt Flat Speed is going to appreciate the class relief when he runs in a $30,000 claiming race that will serve as Friday’s feature at Northlands Park. The six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses and goes as the eighth race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Stakes-placed Courtville fits nicely in Friday’s Woodbine headliner, a nonwinners-of-three allowance worth $56,000. He should be favored in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint, which has lured seven other Ontario-sired runners, including Marked in Stone and Bear’s Peak.
Courtville showed promise last year at 2, when he graduated second time out after losing his debut by disqualification. He went on to finish fourth in both the Bull Page and Frost King, two Ontario-sired stakes, before getting the winter off.
Perhaps the most exciting part for Brian Hernandez Jr. is not what happened Saturday, when the racing world was watching as he won the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga aboard Fort Larned. Nor has it been the hundreds of congratulatory phone calls, texts, tweets, and way-to-gos as he made his morning rounds upon his return to Churchill Downs.
Although, as Hernandez said Wednesday morning, “It’s all sinking in now, and it’s been pretty unbelievable.”
DEL MAR, Calif. - The California Horse Racing Board has released a statement backing the decisions of track veterinarian Dr. Dana Stead in the handling of Elivette, who is the subject of a disputed claim after being euthanized following a race on Saturday.
Elivette suffered a fractured sesamoid bone and was euthanized after leaving the track. Under a newly enacted racing board rule, that meant that a claim on her by owner Demitrius Xanthos went through, but had Elivette been euthanized on the track, the claim would have been voided.
AUBURN, Wash. – A total of 26 horses were named as possible starters in the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile when nominations closed Sunday, and while there are several pretenders on the list, the final field on Aug. 19 could be the deepest and most competitive in the 77-year history of the Northwest’s richest race.
Awesome Gem, who captured the Longacres Mile in 2011 and with nearly $2.9 million in career earnings is the richest horse in training in North America, will return to Emerald Downs to defend his title, trainer Craig Dollase said.
Trainer Adolfo Exposito has been suspended one year and fined $1,000 after being charged with aggravated menacing and simple assault for an incident in which he allegedly attacked jockey Hector Rosario Jr. in the parking lot at Thistledown in suburban Cleveland.
Steve Zaper, interim chief investigator for the Ohio State Racing Commission, said Tuesday that Exposito is facing criminal charges in Bedford, Ohio, with a pre-trial hearing set for Aug. 30. Zaper said Exposito is alleged to have struck Rosario with his fist and threatened him with a gun.
