OCEANPORT, N.J. – The dark clouds over Monmouth Park, both literal and figurative, have parted in time for opening day on Saturday.
The rain in the area over the past week is expected to clear out, leaving a sunny afternoon with temperatures in the low 70s for the first of 65 dates on the Jersey Shore. A 12-race card starts the meet starting at 12:50 p.m. The $75,000 Decathlon at six furlongs anchors the initial program, launching a season that runs through Oct. 7.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hard to tell what a springtime Saturday at Churchill Downs will bring. The first brought a ferocious hailstorm and the Derby Trial, and the second brought a record crowd of 165,307 and the Kentucky Derby.
So how do you follow up on such drama for the third Saturday? Well, you don’t. It is kind of nice, however, to be able to take a deep breath, find plenty more elbow room in the stands, and enjoy a little $68,000 overnight stakes as a feature race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Incredicat’s first venture around two turns was a success, and he will continue on the road toward the June 24 Queen’s Plate on Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Marine Stakes.
The 1 1/16-mile Marine drew just five other 3-year-olds, including Canadian-breds Classic Bryce and Strait of Dover. Lexington Stakes winner All Squared Away ships up from Kentucky for the race.
Incredicat notched his lone 2-year-old outing before going south for the winter and was a front-running third following a layoff in an allowance sprint at Gulfstream on March 24.
Trainer John Martin is asking a lot of The Roan Ranger in Saturday’s $75,000 Alcatraz Stakes at Golden Gate Fields. If The Roan Ranger is to win his third consecutive race, he will have to defeat the graded stakes winner Stony Fleece and stakes winners Chips All In and Longview Drive in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds.
OPELOUSAS, La. – Brandon Menard recorded his first career victory when 75-1 shot Jace’s Ace closed with a rush to win the eighth race at Evangeline Downs Wednesday evening. Jace’s Ace paid $153.20.
Jace’s Ace, trained by Firal Ryder, raced well back early before Menard steered him down to the rail, and they caught the leader and won by 2 1/4 legnths.
CINCINNATI, Ohio – How tough is Perry Ouzts?
The 57-year-old veteran jockey was involved in a serious accident riding his motorcycle to River Downs on Wednesday, but still made it to the track in time to win the daily double.
Ouzts was going westbound on interstate 275 at about 65 miles per hour when a car entered the highway and slammed into him, totaling Ouzts’s motorcycle and sending him crashing to the pavement. Another driver saw the accident and stopped traffic, making sure Ouzts wasn’t run over. His motorcycle went tumbling and sailed over an embankment.
Currency Swap, last year’s Grade 1 Hopeful winner where he beat, among others, I’ll Have Another, returns to New York at Belmont Park in Saturday’s $85,000 You and I Stakes at seven furlongs.
Currency Swap finished second to Gemologist in a one-turn mile allowance race at Gulfstream on March 16 before finishing 11th as the favorite in the Illinois Derby, his first start around two turns last month.
Currency Swap will take on Hardened Wildcat, winner of the Fred “Cappy” Capossela Stakes as well as minor stakes winner Phil Dancer, Tightend Touchdown, and Brian.
Cigar Street, an impressive maiden winner at Fair Grounds, was being pointed to Saturday's Peter Pan at Belmont Park, but was diagnosed with an injury last weekend and will miss the summer.
According to trainer Steve Margolis, Cigar Street had a hairline fracture of his left hind cannon bone and was to undergo surgery this week to have a screw inserted.
Margolis said the injury was caught early enough where the prognosis is good for a return to the races later this year.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown doesn’t know where ultimately Street Life will fit among this year’s 3-year-old crop. However, he believes the colt’s sixth-place finish in last month’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial was not a true assessment of Street Life’s talent.
Saturday, Brown hopes to find out more when Street Life is scheduled to face 11 fellow 3-year-olds seeking an identity in the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. The Peter Pan, run at 1 1/8 miles over the main track, is likely to spawn a starter or two for the Belmont Stakes here on June 9.
