Wed, 05/30/2012 - 14:50

Woodbine: Frostad has new approach to Oaks

Michael Burns
Irish Mission was a $375,000 auction purchase.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Frostad saddled three winners of the Woodbine Oaks during his days with Sam-Son Farm, which began in 1994 and ended this spring.

On Sunday, Frostad will be looking to take down a Woodbine Oaks in his new guise as a public trainer when he sends out Irish Mission for the $500,000, 1 1/8 mile-race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.

Irish Mission, owned by Robert S. Evans, was purchased from Sam-Son for $375,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale in August of 2010.

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 14:37

Cold Cash 123 earns spot in Champion of Champions

Cold Cash 123, the reigning Quarter Horse World Champion, is coming to California this fall. But when he will arrive and who will train him remains to be seen.

Last Sunday at Remington Park, Cold Cash 123 earned an automatic berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 15 with a victory in the $250,000 Remington Park Championship in Oklahoma.

Trained by Texas-based Sleepy Gilbreath for Michigan residents Walter and Carolyn Bay, Cold Cash 123 is unbeaten in two starts this year, having won the Leo Stakes at Remington Park in March.

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 14:33

Hollywood Park: Reminiscing looks like good spot for Spectacular Sky

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Spectacular Sky ran the best race of her career in an optional claimer over 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita back in February. A repeat of that performance may be good enough to win Friday’s $70,000 Reminiscing Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Run over 7 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares who have not won a stakes worth $50,000 to the winner, the Reminiscing Stakes will be the longest start for the 4-year-old Spectacular Sky since she finished a well-beaten fifth in an optional claimer over 1 1/16 miles here last May.

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 14:10

Woodbine: Guitar Solo, Iwillgotothemoon give Attard two shots in turf feature

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Steve Attard will take two shots at Friday’s featured eighth race at Woodbine when he saddles uncoupled Guitar Solo and Iwillgotothemoon in the second-level optional $62,500 claimer on the turf.

Guitar Solo is experimenting on the grass with a dirt-oriented pedigree, but having turf breeding isn’t a prerequisite for success in turf sprints, in which speed usually trumps stamina.

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 14:05

Penn National: Pollard's Boy primed for return in Danzig Stakes

Alyssa Spakowski/Equi-Photo
Pollard’s Boy will make his 3-year-old debut in Friday's $75,000 Danzig Stakes at Penn National.

Pollard’s Boy and Love Those Boots, both idle since producing career-best Beyer Speed Figures last fall, will try to pick up where they left off when they return in the Danzig, the first of two $75,000 stakes for Pennsylvania-breds sprinting six furlongs on Friday night’s card at Penn National.

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 13:39

Get in Da House targets $20,000 bonus tied to Remington's Governor's Cup

Get in Da House has one major objective this summer: the $200,000 Governor’s Cup at Remington Park on Aug. 11. He is the lone horse eligible for a $20,000 bonus tied to the race, and has several routes he can take to get there after running second in the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap on Monday.

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 13:11

Golden Gate Fields: Hess's connection to Mohanna Breeze goes way back

Horse racing may be a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately game, but for trainer Bob Hess, there’s a 50-year history surrounding Mohanna Breeze, who will make her stakes debut Saturday against six California-bred 3-year-old fillies in the $100,000 Campanile at one mile on the turf.

Mohanna Breeze, by Vronsky out of Woman At Work, was conceived shortly before the death of Dick Probert, a legendary aviator and California horseman, at age 101. Probert and his wife, Nancy, and James and Judith Huarte bred the filly, who runs in Judith Huarte’s name.

Tue, 05/29/2012 - 18:10

Churchill Downs: Furthest Land returning

Benoit & Associates
Furthest Land, with Julien Leparoux riding, wins the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in 2009.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Furthest Land, winner of the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile over the then-synthetic track at Santa Anita, will make his first start in more than a year when he will be part of a well-matched field in the seventh race Thursday at Churchill Downs, a $70,100 allowance scheduled for a mile on turf.

Furthest Land has earnings of $915,604, and his goal-oriented owner, Ken Ramsey, would like to hit the seven-figure mark with him if possible.

Tue, 05/29/2012 - 17:57

Louisiana Downs notes: Free shuttle service for horses

Louisiana Downs will be offering a free shuttle service from the Evangeline Downs Training Center in Lafayette, La., to the Bossier City, La., track on Sundays. The shuttle is for horses racing at Louisiana Downs on Sundays, and is being offered for the month of June.