ELMONT, N.Y. – Though he wasn’t here to experience it in person, horse owner Randy Hill had a day he’ll never forget Thursday at Belmont Park, winning four races on the nine-race card.
Hill, who owns the majority of horses in partnership, won the first with Astonesthrowaway, a first-time starting 2-year-old; the second with the filly Midnight Stroll; the third with the claimer Provision; and the seventh, a second-level allowance turf sprint, with Outlaw Kid.
Trainer Joe Duhon has won with six of his last eight starters at Louisiana Downs and will attempt to keep his hot streak going when racing resumes Saturday.
He has one starter on the card. Anyotherquestions is set to run in the second race, a conditioned claiming turf route for horses bred in Louisiana.
Duhon is the second-leading trainer at the meet. He’s won 11 races from 33 starts, and his recent string of six wins came between last Saturday and Monday. Duhon had a triple on Sunday, the second time this meet he’s had three winners on a card.
Rio King, who was claimed for $20,000 from a maiden race last October and was second in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields in April, was euthanized earlier this month because of a spinal injury that caused hind end paralysis.
Trainer Samuel Calvario said on Wednesday that Rio King was found stricken in his stall at Pleasanton. After treatment and veterinary consultation, it was determined that Rio King could not be saved.
The cause of the injury was not known, Calvario said.
A specific race is undetermined, but the eight-time stakes winner Brickyard Ride is scheduled to have his next start at the Del Mar summer meeting that begins on July 21.
On Thursday at Santa Anita, Brickyard Ride worked a half-mile in 47.60 seconds, his first major exercise since he finished a well-beaten third of four in the Thor’s Echo Stakes for California-bred sprinters on May 28.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto is opening its doors at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20, on the eastern portion of the Woodbine Racetrack property.
The $1 billion casino has 328,000 square feet of gaming space, including more than 4,800 slot machines and 145 table games, making it the largest casino in Canada and one of the biggest in North America.
Ain’t Life Grand is being pointed for next month’s Grade 3, $300,000 Cornhusker Handicap after dominating the local prep Saturday at Prairie Meadows.
He closed from next to last for a 6 1/4-length victory in the $60,000 Jim and Sandra Rasmussen Stakes. For the effort, Ain't Life Grand earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100.
“We loved the way he ran,” said trainer Kelly Von Hemel. “And the race set up really well.
“We’ll get ready for the Cornhusker here. It’s kind of the reason we stuck around here, did the prep here - tried to get ready for the Cornhusker.”
William Meyers, a steward in California for nearly 40 years, died on Saturday from health complications, the California Horse Racing Board announced earlier this week.
Meyers was 69.
Known to friends and colleagues as Will, Meyers worked as a steward at several California tracks, including Santa Anita in the early months of the 2021-2022 winter-spring meeting. He was best known for decades of service in Northern California, particularly on the fair circuit.
Stilleto Boy, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March, was recently transferred from Golden Gate Fields to Santa Anita to continue preparation for a start in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Stakes at Ellis Park in Kentucky on July 1.
The $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes at 1 1/8 miles was scheduled to be run at Churchill Downs until track officials announced earlier this month that the track’s spring-summer race meeting was being moved to Ellis Park following a series of fatalities at Churchill Downs earlier in the spring.
Geaux Rocket Ride, the winner of the Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita on June 2, will be tested against some of the nation’s leading 3-year-olds in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 22.
Trainer Richard Mandella confirmed his plans for Geaux Rocket Ride on Wednesday, saying the colt is nearing his first workout since the Affirmed this weekend.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Anthony Stabile confirmed Wednesday he has resigned from his position at the New York Racing Association, where he held several roles including co-host of “Talking Horses.”
Stabile declined to go into details over the specifics of why he resigned – which he officially did June 8 – though he was suspended two weeks by NYRA for a video that circulated of him threatening trainer Jim Chapman in May on the Belmont backstretch.
