Silver Max made quick work of the short field to win the $200,000 Oliver at Indiana Downs Wednesday evening and set a course record of 1:33.88 for the mile on turf.
Trained by Dale Romans, Silver Max has now won five races in a row - at five different tracks with five different jockeys - and was not headed in any of them. Romans was pleased with his horse's performance.
"He is a sweet horse," Romans said. "He is one of the best I have ever trained."
ELMONT, N.Y. – Summer Front’s career on dirt didn’t last long.
After finishing eighth of 10 in the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes here last month, Summer Front is heading back to the turf, topping a field of 11 entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Hill Prince Stakes going a mile at Belmont Park.
AUBURN, Wash. – Some of the story lines at Emerald Downs, where a seven-race card Friday evening kicks off a three-day weekend capped by the $50,000 Budweiser Handicap on Father’s Day:
* While there is no “feature” race on the card – a $3,500 claimer is the highlight – the Friday program does feature the first 2-year-old race of the meeting. Six juvenile fillies, eligible to be claimed for $12,500, will compete over 4 1/2 furlongs in the first race. Post time is 6 p.m. Pacific.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – In a significant circuit change, Tom Durant, the all-time leading owner at Lone Star Park, plans to race this summer at Del Mar, the Southern California track that opens July 18.
Durant and his private trainer, Jack Bruner, have submitted for stalls at Del Mar. The men have 40 horses in training at Lone Star, where Durant ranked second in the owner standings through Wednesday. Dating back to 1998, he has won eight Thoroughbred owner titles at Lone Star.
Five horses who most recently ran in the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes on the Preakness undercard, including runner-up Humble and Hungry and third-place Forte Dei Marmi, will challenge defending champion Rahystrada in Saturday’s $500,000 Colonial Turf Cup.
Fields for the 1 3/16-mile Turf Cup and three supporting turf stakes, including the Grade 3 All Along, were drawn Wednesday at Colonial Downs.
Ten older horses will contest the Turf Cup, which goes as race 7 on a 12-race card that begins at 6 p.m. Eastern.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The 4-year-old colt Shrug has a leading chance to win Friday’s seventh race at Betfair Hollywood Park, as long as he doesn’t mind racing at night.
“I hope he’s a night owl,” trainer Carla Gaines said on Wednesday.
Shrug is part of a field of six in an optional claimer over 6 1/2 furlongs in the seventh race on an eight-race program that begins at 7 p.m. The seventh race has a post time of approximately 10 p.m.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Eddie Kenneally has had a successful Belmont meet both on the track and at the claim box.
Through the first 33 days of the meet, Kenneally has 6 wins and 4 seconds from 18 starters. On May 24, Kenneally won a four-way shake to claim Ullapool, a 3-year-old filly, for $25,000. In the race from which she was claimed, Ullapool cruised to an eight-length win while on the lead.
Friday, Kenneally will send out Ullapool in a $55,000 starter/optional claimer going seven furlongs that serves as the featured event on Belmont Park’s nine-race card.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The older-horse division is so deep this year that 7 of the top 10 in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll are from within those ranks. One of them is not Ron the Greek, who has done little wrong in three starts this year by sandwiching runner-up finishes in the Sunshine Millions Classic and the Oaklawn Handicap around a victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – For years, trainer Walther Solis would win early season 2-year-old races with horses who would largely be absent from the top of the division by Labor Day.
That no longer applies. Lately, Solis’s horses are capable of winning at any time of year, and in the best company.
With an influx of better-bred horses and the support of California owner-breeder Terry Lovingier, Solis, 50, is in the midst of his best season since he began training in 2005.
