When a horse is named after a close family member, she better be good.
Teen Pauline announced herself as a good one Wednesday at Saratoga.
Teen Pauline, a 2-year-old filly named after owner Barbara Banke’s 84-year-old mother Pauline, won her debut by 4 3/4 lengths Wednesday, setting a track record of 56.53 seconds for five furlongs, lowering by 0.01 the mark set by J C’s Pride last year.
DEL MAR, Calif.- For at least one major stakes in Southern California this summer, Kettle Corn does not have to chase Game On Dude in Saturday’s $200,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar.
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In the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park on June 2, Kettle Corn was second to Game On Dude. In the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 7, he was third behind Game On Dude and Richard’s Kid.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey Rosie Napranik suffered a non-displaced fracture of the middle toe on her right foot, but has been cleared to ride and was expected to keep her engagements on Thursday at Saratoga.
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Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Hansen in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park on Aug. 4, according to his agent, Brad Pegram. Smith has never ridden Hansen, the champion 2-year-old male of 2011.
Hansen has won 5 of 8 starts and $1,773,305. Trained by Mike Maker for a partnership led by breeder Kendall Hansen, the colt has won four stakes. He won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall to clinch his championship.
Earlier this year, Hansen was ninth in the Kentucky Derby and won the Grade 3 Iowa Derby by 10 lengths at Prairie Meadows on June 30.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Two of the six horses entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Diana will walk over for the race side by side after leaving the barn of trainer Chad Brown. But only one of those two fillies, defending champion Zagora, will actually run in Brown’s name in the Grade 1 turf fixture.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – They may not be as accomplished or well-known as the 3-year-olds running in the Jim Dandy or Haskell Invitational, but one or more of the eight horses entered in Friday’s $100,000 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga could emerge as a significant player for this year’s Travers Stakes.
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AUBURN, Wash. – A half-dozen promising 3-year-old sprinters will trade blows Friday in the feature race at Emerald Downs, and any of the six could win it. The 6 1/2-furlong feature, a first-level allowance with an optional $25,000 claiming price, is the sixth of seven races on a card that begins at 6 p.m. Pacific.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Dullahan got acquainted with the Monmouth Park racing surface for the first time on Wednesday morning, galloping 1 1/2 miles in preparation for the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Sunday.
The winner of the Blue Grass Stakes, Dullahan joins Paynter and Gemologist as the top contenders in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds.
A field of six appears likely for the premier event of the meet when post positions are drawn Thursday afternoon.
The richest races of the long year at Penn National will be renewed this weekend at the Grantville, Pa., track, where the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup on Saturday will serve as the anchor of a terrific series of stakes.
Three Friday stakes, all for female runners, will be run consecutively, starting with race 3, during the early portion of a 10-race card that starts at 6 p.m. Eastern.
Meanwhile, Saturday night will feature the annual Penn showcase, the 40th running of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup for older turf sprinters, among three six-figure stakes.
The $5.7 million stakes schedule Oaklawn Park released Thursday is the richest in track history due to more than $500,000 in increases made to 13 of its 32 stakes, most notably the Rebel, Fantasy, and Oaklawn Handicap. The Hot Springs, Ark., track opens Jan. 11 and races 56 days through April 13.
