In 2011, 107 horses started at Del Mar who had made their previous start outside of the state, or even the nation. Those horses were eligible for bonuses that cost the racetrack and the Thoroughbred Owners of California a total of $165,000.
This year, the two groups are willing to spend more – a lot more, if necessary – to cover an expanded bonus program.
The posted speed limit in some parts of West Texas is 80 miles per hour, although you’re really not supposed to drive that fast while pulling a horse trailer.
Considering the temperature in Dallas-Fort Worth in July and August, and the allure of spending the second half of the summer at a beach town near San Diego, trainers such as Cody Autrey, Jack Bruner, Dallas Keen, and Christie Grisham can be forgiven for hustling a little bit to get to the West Coast in recent days.
Double Shuffle will try and make amends for losing his last race when he runs in a $30,000 claiming race that will serve as Wednesday’s feature at Northlands Park. The one-mile race for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses and goes as the eighth race. First post for the nine-race card is 6 p.m. Mountain.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The 50-day spring-summer meeting at Betfair Hollywood Park concluded Sunday with a 2 percent decline in average all-sources handle compared to the 2011 meeting, track president Jack Liebau said.
The track did not reveal extensive handle and attendance figures for the meeting.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine’s top two sprinters, Essence Hit Man and Eternal Rule, will clash over 6 1/2 furlongs Wednesday night in the $150,000 Bold Venture, which was promoted to a Grade 3 stakes this year.
Essence Hit Man, Canada’s reigning champion sprinter, hasn’t been worse than second since last year’s Bold Venture, in which he faded to fourth after setting rapid fractions. He began this campaign by capturing two Polytrack stakes, the Jacques Cartier and Grade 3 Vigil.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The first Grade 1 race of the Del Mar meeting, the $300,000 Eddie Read Stakes, will be run Saturday, and it is shaping up as a virtual walkover for Eclipse Award winner Acclamation, who has scared away just about all his rivals, and whoever was left might be reconsidering after his sharp drill on the turf here Monday morning.
Jockey John Velazquez returned to the saddle Monday morning for the first time since fracturing his collarbone in a spill at Churchill Downs on June 16.
Over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, Velazquez breezed the 2-year-old Archwarrior four furlongs in 48.92 seconds in company with another 2-year-old. Both horses are trained by Todd Pletcher.
Velazquez said Monday afternoon he felt no pain, but was “a little tired.”
“You’re supposed to be. . . . I’ll probably be sore tomorrow,” he said.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The calendar says summer began three weeks ago. But loyal fans of California racing know otherwise. Seasons do not change by month of the year. Seasons change according to where horses are running.
Winter always starts at Santa Anita, and spring always begins at Hollywood Park. As for summer, that starts at Del Mar on Wednesday at 2 p.m. when a raucous crowd of more than 40,000 fans cheer maiden claimers in the opening race of the 2012 summer meet.
The signature race of the Keeneland fall meet, the Shadwell Turf Mile, has had its purse increased to $750,000, officials with the Lexington, Ky., track announced Monday. The 17-day meet that will begin Oct. 5.
The Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile had been a $600,000 race until getting the bump for this coming fall, bringing it even with the longstanding spring highlight at Keeneland, the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse had faith in Dixie Strike, and his judgment was rewarded at Fort Erie on Sunday when the filly recorded the biggest win of her career in the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes.
Dixie Strike had been keeping a busy schedule, making her seventh start of the season and racing on three weeks’ rest for the third straight time after winning the May 13 Selene, finishing a disappointing fifth in the June 3 Woodbine Oaks, and then ending a closing third in the 1 1/4-mile Queen’s Plate on June 24.
