ELMONT, N.Y. – Jack Sisterson was a member of the University of Louisville’s men’s soccer team in 2006 when his team traveled to New York for a match against St. John’s.
The schedule allowed for a day of sightseeing. While most of Sisterson’s teammates went to visit the Empire State Building or Ground Zero, Sisterson and a buddy took a taxi to Belmont Park.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The latest proof that May 2012 will be a month like no other in the life of jockey Mario Gutierrez will occur when he arrives in the paddock at Betfair Hollywood Park for Saturday’s second race.
Gutierrez’s mount in that race for 2-year-olds is maidens is named after him – Cinco de Mario, which commemorates his victory on I’ll Have Another in the Kentucky Derby on May 5. I’ll Have Another and Cinco de Mario are owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam and trained by Doug O’Neill.
Unreachable Star will attempt to win his third William Henry Harrison stake when taking on seven other Indiana-sired horses Saturday afternoon at Indiana Downs. Now 8, the gelding won the 2008 and 2010 runnings of the $84,000 six-furlong event. The only time the Tim Glyshaw trainee has not won in five local attempts was when he finished second in the 2009 running of this race. It will be the first out of the year for Unreachable Star after working well at Churchill Downs. Orlando Mojica will ride.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward.
Trainer Kelly Breen hopes that philosophy works with Pants On Fire in the $75,000 Skip Away Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
“We’re just looking to get him back to his winning ways,” Breen said. “He’s had some tough races on the road. Now he’s back home. We want to let him win a heat, and then we’ll see
The 12-race card starting at 12:50 p.m. Eastern kicks off the holiday racing weekend on the Jersey Shore as Monmouth offers three programs through Memorial Day.
ALTOONA, Iowa – Saturday evening’s $60,000 Jim Rasmussen Memorial Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile tuneup for the Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap, pits the last two winners of the Rasmussen, Red Lead and Stachys, against the 2010 Cornhusker champ Shadowbdancing.
In the competitive field of eight, Shadowbdancing, a winner of $384,500 in his 10 lifetime races here, tries to revisit past glory. Most recently, the Montbrook-sired 7-year-old horse finished third in the $75,000 Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes on April 28. The Rasmussen will be his third start of the season.
C C’s Pal and Winning Image, two mares who came out on the wrong end of photo finishes with Nicole H earlier this season, will take another crack at the five-time stakes winner in Saturday’s $150,000 My Juliet Stakes for female sprinters at Parx Racing.
Nicole H, who won the Grade 2 Distaff at Aqueduct as part of her abbreviated campaign in 2011, nearly added another Grade 2 win to her r é sum é when she was beaten a neck by Magical Feeling in the Barbara Fritchie Handicap at Laurel Park in February. That day, Nicole H nosed out C C’s Pal for second.
MIAMI – Nobody wants to win Saturday’s $55,000 Mambo Meister Stakes at Calder more than trainer Phil Gleaves.
Gleaves trained the multiple graded stakes winner Mambo Meister throughout his career, which ended tragically when he had to be euthanized after suffering severe injuries during a routine workout here earlier this spring.
“Calder management said right away they were going to name a race after Mambo Meister this year, and I’m humbled that they’ve done that,” Gleaves said.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – For a 6-year-old mare, Tierra Del Feugo hasn’t made it to the races very many times. But in all of her 12 starts Tierra Del Fuego has made her presence known while compiling a 4-4-1 record.
She looks like the one to beat when she makes her seasonal debut in an optional $35,000 claiming race for fillies and mares at Hastings on Saturday. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint drew 10 horses and goes as the seventh race. The eight-race card starts at 1:50 p.m. Pacific.
