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.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Considering his lofty status in the California handicap division, Richard’s Kid seems to have Friday’s $150,000 Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar at his mercy.
There’s one little problem. He has lost the race twice.
“He’s never been able to win the Cougar II,” trainer Bob Baffert said.
In 2010, the last year that Richard’s Kid started in the race, he finished third as the even-money favorite. In 2009, he finished second in the race.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Pete Gregory said High End Man’s convincing win in a first-level allowance race last Saturday earned him a spot in the $50,000 Stellar’s Jay for B.C.-bred 3-year-olds on B.C. Cup Day, Aug. 6.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hessonite has dropped close decisions to her fellow New York-bred Gitchee Goomie in her last two starts, but she will finally duck that nemesis and appears well spotted to pick up her elusive first win of the year when facing a full field of statebred fillies and mares going a mile on the grass in Friday’s $100,000 Irish Linnet Stakes.
The California Horse Racing Board has revoked the license of Quarter Horse trainer Adan Farias for two years and fined him $25,000 after six of his horses tested positive at Los Alamitos last fall for the banned medication zilpaterol.
Zilpaterol, listed as a class 1 violation, is designed to increase muscle mass in livestock. The medication has properties that resemble anabolic steroids. The six horses that tested positive combined to earn $173,900.
BOSSIER CITY, La. – Trainer Al Stall Jr. has a problem many Louisiana horsemen would love to have – where to race a 3-year-old statebred who can run. Run a lot.
The 3-year-old in question is Tensas Cold Front, and Stall’s enviable dilemma is whether to start him in the $75,000 Louisiana Cup Derby against fellow Louisiana-breds on Aug. 18 or think bigger and try open company in the $100,000 Prelude Stakes on Aug. 4. In addition to the larger purse, the Prelude offers the winner an all-fees-paid berth to the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby on Sept. 8.
Candy and Nuts will appreciate the easier company she will be facing in a $20,000 claiming race for 3-year-old fillies that will serve as Friday’s feature at Northlands Park. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint drew five horses and goes as the first race.
