Mon, 05/07/2012 - 08:13

Churchill Downs: Super high five to have $276,000 carryover into Thursday

With no winning tickets sold on the super high five wager Saturday on the Kentucky Derby, a carryover jackpot of $276,914 awaits horseplayers when action resumes Thursday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

The super high five, a $1-minimum wager, is offered on the last race each day. Entries for the Thursday and Friday cards at Churchill were to be drawn Tuesday.

In many prior years, a big pick six jackpot has been a main attraction when racing resumes post-Derby, but the pick six was hit this year, with each winning $2 ticket worth $675,148.

Mon, 05/07/2012 - 07:37

Churchill Downs: Dead groom may have been involved in one of several Derby night altercations

Kentucky Horse Racing Commission
Adan Perez was found dead on the Churchill Downs backstretch early Sunday morning.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville Metro Police said at a Monday news conference that they have no suspects in the case of the Guatemalan man whose body was found early Sunday morning in a Churchill Downs barn just hours after the Kentucky Derby was run, but that they suspect he may have been involved in one of several altercations that took place in the stable area in the Derby aftermath.

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 21:28

Hastings: Taylor Said pulls away in John Longden 6000

Trevor A. Reynolds/Four-Footed Fotos
Taylor Said wins the John Longden 6000 Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths at Hastings.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia  –  Taylor Said came from just off the pace to win the 6 1/2-furlong John Longden 6000 in a very brisk time of 1:15.77 at Hastings on Sunday.

Sent off as the favorite in the $50,000 sprint for 3-year-olds and up, Taylor Said was expected to set the pace in the 11-horse field. He was outrun by Northern Causeway and St. Liams Halo early, however, and Fernando Perez was forced to steady Taylor Said when he was full of run going into the first turn.

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 21:13

Golden Gate Fields: Stormy Lucy wins Golden Poppy in stakes, turf debut

ALBANY, Calif. – Stormy Lucy made her stakes, route, and turf debut in the $75,000 Golden Poppy at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday and then did something familiar.

The daughter of Stormy Atlantic posed for pictures in the winner’s circle for the third straight time.

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 20:25

Hollywood Park: Teddy’s Promise closes from last to win Time To Leave Stakes

Benoit & Associates
Teddy's Promise wins the Time To Leave Stakes by a half-length at Betfair Hollywood Park.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Making her first start since January, Grade 1 winner Teddy’s Promise closed from last in a field of six fillies and mares to win Sunday’s $84,950 Time To Leave Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Teddy’s Promise ($7.80) finished a half-length in front of Rumor, who was a half-length in front of Pink Lollipops. Izzy Rules, the 3-2 favorite, finished fifth after racing near the front for the first half-mile.

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 17:52

Woodbine: Essence Hit Man takes them all the way in Vigil Stakes

Michael Burns
Essence Hit Man led all the way on his way to a victory in the Grade 3 Vigil Stakes at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Essence Hit Man ran them off their feet in the $168,000 Vigil Stakes, winning the Grade 3 event over a sharp Big Band Sound at Woodbine on Sunday.

Essence Hit Man ($3.70), last year’s champion sprinter in Canada, set moderate fractions of 22.56 seconds and 45.16 in the seven-furlong test. He maintained a clear lead through the stretch before tiring late and got home on top by three-quarters of a length, in 1:22.28.  

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 17:44

Belmont Park: Sunny Desert, I’ll Stake U win divisions of New York Stallion Stakes

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
I'll Stake U outfinishes Sportswriter to win the Times Square division of the New York Stallion Stakes.

Sunny Desert and I’ll Stake U won divisions of Sunday’s $100,000 New York Stallion Stakes for 3-year-old New York-breds.

In the Park Avenue division for fillies, Sunny Desert came through a narrow opening inside and took a head-bob nose decision over Hot Splash.

Sunny Desert ($6), coming off a big maiden win for John Parisella, ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.10 over a fast main track and was the second winner on the day for Ramon Dominguez.

Lenders Way edged the maiden Sweet Moon for third.

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 15:57

Hollywood Park: O’Neill stable has little time for Derby celebration

Benoit & Associates
Leandro Mora is trainer Doug O’Neill’s chief assistant. He watched I'll Have Another's Kentucky Derby win from Betfair Hollywood Park.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The screaming, shouting, and celebrating was short-lived at trainer Doug O’Neill’s stable at Betfair Hollywood Park on Saturday afternoon following the win by I’ll Have Another in the Kentucky Derby.

The reality of backstretch life interfered in the moments after the race. It was time to head for the paddock to prepare another starter.

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 13:38

Churchill Downs: Police investigate death in barn area

Barbara D. Livingston
The Louisville Metro Police Department investigates the death of a man whose body was found in the Churchill Downs barn area on Sunday morning.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Homicide detectives from the Louisville Metro Police Department opened a death investigation Sunday after a man’s body was discovered in Barn 8 in the Churchill Downs stable area just before 5 a.m. Eastern, some 10 hours after the 138th Kentucky Derby was run.

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 12:51

Kentucky Derby 2012: Matz calls Union Rags’s race a disaster

Barbara D. Livingston
Union Rags, with Julien Leparoux riding, finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On the morning of Feb. 27, less than 24 hours after Union Rags’s triumphant 3-year-old debut in the Fountain of Youth, trainer Michael Matz stood beaming outside his barn at the Palm Meadows training center, secure and confident in the knowledge that he had the horse to beat in the Kentucky Derby.