Tue, 05/08/2012 - 15:12

Belmont Park: Diablo Stakes draws salty, fast bunch of sprinters

Barbara D. Livingston
Travelin Man wins the Sir Shackleton at Gulfstream Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Seven older males with a combined 49 wins and more than $3 million in earnings clash in Thursday’s $85,000 Diablo overnight stakes, a six-furlong race that could serve as a stepping-stone to the Met Mile on May 28 or the True North Handicap on June 9.

Tue, 05/08/2012 - 14:29

Hollywood Park: Acclamation back training after medical tests

Shigeki Kikkawa
Acclamation was withdrawn from the Inglewood Handicap and passed on the Mervyn LeRoy.

Acclamation, the champion older male of 2011, has resumed training in recent days at Santa Anita after undergoing a battery of tests following signs of unsoundness in late April.

The tests – which included conventional X-rays, a nuclear scan and blood tests – revealed no injuries or abnormalities, trainer Don Warren said.

Warren said on Tuesday that Acclamation galloped at Santa Anita after jogging on Sunday and Monday. Acclamation was out of training for a few days last week.

Tue, 05/08/2012 - 13:34

Hollywood Park: Gittel going a route on turf

Shigeki Kikkawa
Starship Flare is entered for the $80,000 claiming price.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The filly Gittel, who starts in Thursday’s fifth race at Betfair Hollywood Park, is one reason trainer Janet Armstrong has had an excellent start in 2012.

Gittel won twice at Santa Anita in January, two of the seven winners Armstrong has saddled from 19 starters this year. Armstrong’s career high for wins occurred in 2007, when she had 20 wins from 111 starters.

Tue, 05/08/2012 - 12:32

Golden Gate Fields: Alcatraz Stakes coming up as strong race

Benoit & Associates
Chips All In is being considered for Saturday's Alcatraz Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.

Golden Gate Fields wound up with a good stakes race Sunday when Stormy Lucy scored an impressive victory in her turf debut in the 1 1/16-mile Golden Poppy Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. It could hit the jackpot again Saturday with the $75,000 Alcatraz, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds.

The Alcatraz has more star power heading into the race than the Golden Poppy did.

Tue, 05/08/2012 - 11:53

Churchill Downs: Albarado, agent part ways

Lenny Pike will no longer represent the suspended jockey Robby Albarado, and has accepted a position as agent for jockey Shaun Bridgmohan.

The change comes just days after Albarado was arrested for fourth-degree domestic violence, an incident that led Kentucky stewards to suspend him indefinitely, pending an evaluation by the Licensing Committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

At a Tuesday arraignment, Albarado pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Mon, 05/07/2012 - 18:13

Photos: Kentucky Derby 2012, start to finish

Photos from the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 5, show how the race unfolded.

Union Rags gets pinched between Dullahan and the No. 3 horse, Take Charge Indy, at the start of the 138th Kentucky Derby and was never able to recover. [Photo: Jenny Burgos]

Mon, 05/07/2012 - 16:42

Mountaineer: Deshawn Parker rides 4,000th winner

Deshawn Parker reached a personal milestone Sunday evening aboard Cuban Carmen ($11.80) in the third race at Mountaineer Park, recording his 4,000th win.

A 41-year-old Cincinnati native, Parker began riding in 1988 and has led the nation in number of wins by a jockey the past two years. Parker received the Laffit Pincay award for outstanding achievement at the Eclipse Awards this year.

Mon, 05/07/2012 - 16:39

Belmont Park notes: Winter Memories, Hungry Island to renew rivalry in Just a Game

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Winter Memories, winner of the Beaugay, will make her next start in the Just a Game Stakes.

It appears as though Winter Memories and Hungry Island will renew their rivalry in the Grade 1 Just a Game Stakes here on the June 9 Belmont Stakes undercard.

Both fillies won stakes over the weekend. Winter Memories, in her 4-year-old debut, won the Beaugay at Belmont by 2 1/4 lengths, her seventh win in 10 career starts.

Meanwhile, at Churchill, Hungry Island won the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile by a length over Tapitsfly, her fifth win in 12 starts.

Mon, 05/07/2012 - 16:38

Arlington Park: Von Hemel stars branching out

Barbara D. Livingston
Caleb's Posse in on target for the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – During Derby Week in Louisville trainer Donnie Von Hemel was laying low at Arlington Park, but the stars of Von Hemel’s stable – the two or three of them, depending how you look at it – will be swinging back into action in coming weeks.

Mon, 05/07/2012 - 16:20

Belmont Park: The Lumber Guy opts for one-turn Peter Pan Stakes

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
The Lumber Guy, winner of the Jerome, will make his next start in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – With the disappointment of the Wood Memorial still somewhat fresh in their minds, the connections of The Lumber Guy on Monday chose to run their promising 3-year-old New York-bred in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes rather than wait a week for the $1 million Preakness at Pimlico.

The Peter Pan is run at 1 1/8 miles around one turn. The Preakness is run at 1 3/16 miles around two turns against the supposed upper echelon of the 3-year-old division.