MIAMI - Five 3-year-olds went to the post for Saturday’s $150,000 Carry Back, but the Grade 3 dash turned out to be one heck of a match race, with Fort Loudon ultimately proving a neck the best over the odds-on favorite, Trinniberg following a near race-long duel.
Fort Loudon, the local 2-year-old champ in 2011, stalked Trinniberg from the outset of the six-furlong Carry Back and gradually wore the 1-5 favorite down in the final furlong under strong handling by jockey Fernando Jara.
ELMONT, N.Y. - As he walked back to the jockeys’ room following Saturday’s Grade 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park, jockey Mike Smith was equal parts ecstatic and shocked.
He was naturally happy that he won the $350,000 race aboard Mucho Macho Man, but he was stunned with the ease in which the 2 1/2-length victory was accomplished.
“I’m kind of shocked how impressed he was, you know,” said Smith, who was riding Mucho Macho Man for the first time. “You put that bunch in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, your favorite’s going to come out of that race.”
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Naipaul Chatterpaul was suspended 60 days and fined $5,000 by the New York stewards and could face further sanctions after two of his horses tested positive for banned substances in a span of 16 days in February.
Chatterpaul has appealed the penalties and will be permitted to train until that appeal is heard.
Since the two penalties occurred within a six-month period, the case was referred to the New York State Racing and Wagering Board for possible additional action, which the board may deem appropriate.
A memorial service for jockey Jorge Herrera, who was fatally injured in a racing accident Thursday at age 33, will be held Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in front of the racing office at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif.
The fourth race on Sunday's closing-day card will be dedicated to Herrera.
Memorial donations in the rider's honor can be made by mailing checks to Racetrack Chaplaincy c/o Alameda County Fair, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton, Calif., 94566.
Awe Hush and Bringingdown Babel, who have combined to win 10 of 14 starts at Mountaineer Racetrack over the past two seasons, will face off against a pair of multiple stakes winners from Ohio in a highly competitive no-conditions allowance Tuesday night.
The six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, which carries a $33,700 purse, goes as race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Sunday’s afternoon live racing program at Charles Town has been cancelled due to a forecast that calls for temperatures in the upper 90s and the possibility of severe thunderstorms.
It is the second straight Sunday that Charles Town has called off its Sunday program because of the heat wave that has hit the Mid-Atlantic region.
Nine of the races involved in the two cancellations will be made up through the addition of a 10th race on the final nine non-Sunday cards in July. The remaining nine races will be rescheduled soon.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Economics played a vital role in the decision to point My Gi Gi for Saturday’s $350,000 American Oaks at Betfair Hollywood Park.
Trainer Peter Eurton and the partnership that owns the 3-year-old filly could wait for the $150,000 San Clemente Handicap over a mile on turf at Del Mar on July 22, but the purse and Grade 1 status of the American Oaks makes the race more attractive.
“We’ll definitely go here,” Eurton said. “She deserves a try at it.”
After a promising 2-year-old campaign in which she finished third in the Grade 1 Spinaway and second in the Grade 2 Pocahontas, the filly And Why Not has been a disappointment so far in 2012. Badly beaten in a pair of graded races and a nonthreatening third in a listed stakes, And Why Not will try to regain her form and her confidence by dropping into a first-level allowance Monday at Delaware Park.
On class, And Why Not towers over her five rivals in race 8 at one mile on the main track.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Bet Your Life, who finished seventh in his lone lifetime start on June 21, overcame a troubled start and swept past nine rivals to capture the $87,255 Iowa Stallion Futurity on Saturday evening at Prairie Meadows.
Bet Your Life, a Minnesota-bred 2-year-old colt, came from last place after getting squeezed back when favored Senor Captain broke sharply to his left. Jockey Israel Ocampo enticed a quick early move from Bet Your Life that allowed him to reach the front on the turn of the 5 1/2-furlong event.
Sky Willow came from just off the pace under jockey Mario Pino to win the $75,000 Northern Fling at Presque Isle Downs on Friday evening.
Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard, Sky Willow was third early in the one-mile race for Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares before rallying into the stretch to take the lead. She then drew off to win by 2 1/4 lengths.
Weeper set the early pace under Manuel Chaves before settling for second, two lengths in front of post-time favorite Lenape Rim in third.
