Sheldon Russell had never experienced anything like the Kentucky Derby before, and the 24-year-old jockey doesn’t just mean the adrenaline rush he got from riding in the world’s most famous horse race.
“I’ve never had the dirt sting like that,” said Russell, who rode Done Talking to a 14th-place finish two weeks ago at Churchill Downs. “It had to affect the horse, too.”
Bob Baffert did not get in town in time to see an Orioles game this week, but he will still root, root, root for the home team on Saturday at Pimlico, when he sends out Awesomemundo, owned by his wife Jill, in the Grade 3, $100,000 Allaire DuPont Distaff for older fillies and mares.
BALTIMORE – If pace does indeed make the race – as many are insisting will be the case Saturday with Bodemeister in the Preakness – then Chad Brown has a viable excuse for the disappointing last start from one of his stable stars, Zagora.
Zagora, a Grade 1 winner and earner of $868,589, was never a threat in finishing fifth as the favorite behind wire-to-wire winner Daisy Devine last month in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The $50,000 Ross McLeod at Hastings on Saturday drew a strong field of 3-year-old fillies, including the sensational Claresmiezie. The race isn’t the reason officials at Hastings are expecting the largest crowd in years to turn out, however.
A familiar cast of characters has been assembled for Saturday’s $100,000 Affirmed Success Stakes.
Saginaw, who has reeled off four straight wins in blinkers, will be favored against five other New York-breds in the seven-furlong race, which is the third leg of a late pick four with a $350,000 guaranteed pool.
BALTIMORE – The Preakness is experiencing something of a resurgence in popularity after attendance crashed from an all-time high of 121,263 for the 2007 running to just 77,850 in 2009, when Pimlico announced they were abandoning the longstanding tradition of bring-your-own-booze.
[bc_video_id:252194:]ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Roxy Gap ran better than ever when she took the six-furlong Whimsical Stakes over 2011 Canadian champion female sprinter Atlantic Hurricane. They will meet again over 6 1/2 furlongs Saturday at Woodbine in the Grade 2, $150,000 Hendrie Stakes.
Roxy Gap, a 4-year-old trained by Mark Casse, was unbeaten at 2. She captured the Fury Stakes early in her 3-year-old season, before tailing off.
Boyd Gaming, the Las Vegas-based parent company of Delta Downs in Vinton, La., has announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., as part of a larger, five-property acquisition of Peninsula Gaming. The deal is worth $1.45 billion, and is expected to close by the end of 2012, according to a release issued by Boyd Gaming.
The other properties are the Kansas Star Casino near Wichita, Kan.; Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, Iowa; Diamond Jo Worth in Northwood, Iowa; and Amelia Belle Casino in Amelia, La.
BALTIMORE – Daily Racing Form reporter David Grening and Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden were among the honorees Thursday morning at the annual Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico, where both were presented with the Old Hilltop Award for covering racing with excellence and distinction.
Grening, 46, has been writing about racing for 20 years, the last 14 for Daily Racing Form while based primarily in New York.
BALTIMORE – He was second at the Kentucky Derby, but he will be the first choice at the Preakness Stakes. Despite being defeated as the favorite two weeks ago in the first leg of the Triple Crown, Bodemeister will be the favorite again on Saturday in the 137th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, in which he will try to deny the Derby winner, I’ll Have Another, from advancing to the June 9 Belmont Stakes with a chance to complete the Triple Crown.
