LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On a day dedicated to ladies, how appropriate that it was Rosie Napravnik who became the first woman jockey ever to win the Kentucky Oaks.
Napravnik, riding Believe You Can for former Kentucky Gov. Brereton C. Jones and trainer Larry Jones, gave several joyful waves of her whip when her mount crossed under the wire a three-quarters-of-a-length winner over a gritty Broadway’s Alibi on Friday in the 138th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Oaks at Churchill Downs.
Comisky's Humor, who finished 13th in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby last month at Fair Grounds, returns to both the overnight ranks and sprinting in the featured seventh race Sunday at Louisiana Downs. He will be adding blinkers for the first-level allowance at six furlongs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Silver Max took the lead leaving the gate and led from start to finish to win the $200,000-added American Turf, a race for 3-year-old turf horses that was delayed 45 minutes by a storm and was marred by an accident that, fortunately, did not result in apparent injury to horse or rider.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Lookslikeahit will attempt to become trainer C.R. Trout's second turf debut winner in the last week at Lone Star Park when he runs in the featured fifth race Sunday. The first-level allowance will be run over 7 1/2 furlongs, and it drew a field of 11.
Trout sent out Scat Baby to win her turf debut last Saturday. He said he is now looking into his Churchill Downs stakes options with the filly, who is a 3-year-old half-sister to Grade 1 winner Shotgun Gulch.
Startin Something made her season debut a winning one by closing three-wide from just off the leaders to make the lead inside the eighth pole and draw clear by 1 3/4 lengths over School Lass in the $50,000, six furlong, Dr. T.F. Classen Memorial here on Friday, opening day of the Thistledown season.
It was two lengths further back to Gathering Dreams who closed four wide.
AUBURN, Wash. -- You Me and Ema B will be noticeably absent when Emerald Downs kicks off its stakes schedule next weekend. The speedy mare with the alliterative name was expected to be one of the favorites in the $50,000 Hastings Handicap, a race she captured last year, but interruptions in her training schedule have left You Me and Ema B in less than optimal condition.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Racing was delayed at Churchill Downs on Friday afternoon, and the infield ordered evacuated, as a storm said to be packing high winds, hail, and lightning bore down on this city. But most of the storm tracked south of the track, and racing was scheduled to resume after a 45-minute delay.
A similar storm blew through last Saturday night, causing a 45-minute delay in racing on opening night.
The $400,000 Oklahoma Derby will be run two weeks earlier this year, on Sept. 30, in the biggest change to the 31-race, $3.5 million stakes schedule at Remington Park. The Oklahoma City track beings its Thoroughbred meet Aug. 10. The season runs through Dec. 9.
Mike Shamburg, the racing secretary at Remington’s sister track, Lone Star Park near Dallas, has been named to the same position for Remington’s meet for Thoroughbreds, said Scott Wells, president of Remington. Shamburg, 58, replaces Dan Fick.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Teddy’s Promise is not ideally suited to the conditions of Sunday’s $70,000 Time To Leave Stakes at Hollywood Park.
That’s the perspective of trainer Ron Ellis, who plans to use the five-furlong race as a prep for stakes in June and July for Teddy’s Promise, the winner of the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita last December.
“It’s not a real important race for us,” Ellis said. “We’ve got some work to do to get her to relax and rate.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Forget about keeping up with the Joneses. This year, in the handicap division of Thoroughbred racing, it might be all about keeping up with the Dans.
Twelve days after Wise Dan set a Keeneland track record for 1 1/8 miles winning the Ben Ali Stakes, his 6-year-old half-brother Successful Dan set a Churchill Downs track record winning the Grade 2, $337,800 Alysheba Stakes by one length over Fort Larned.
Successful Dan ran 1 1-16 miles in 1:41.04, eclipsing the track record of 1:41.27 set by Brass Hat on July 8, 2007. He returned $10.20 to win.
