ELMONT, N.Y. – The allure of big money, the arrival of several new outfits, and an all-star jockey colony have heightened the enthusiasm for the Belmont Park spring/summer meeting, which kicks off its 56-day run Friday.
Fueled by revenue from the Aqueduct casino, average daily purses at Belmont are expected to increase 44 percent from last year to an average of $620,000 a day. That figure factors in stakes purses, which received a $1.9 million increase over 2011.
Both on and off the track at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, the Bob Baffert barn was the newsmaker, with a partial interest being sold in Bodemeister, the likely favorite for the May 5 Kentucky Derby, and Liaison, Baffert’s other Derby runner, working six furlongs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day at Churchill Downs. At 8:30 every morning this past week, the same, small group of prospective Kentucky Derby starters come out on the track during the 15-minute training session set aside for Derby and Kentucky Oaks horses.
CINCINNATI – River Downs begins a 94-day meet Friday with a renewed sense of energy under the management of Pinnacle Entertainment and upgrades to the physical plant.
When patrons enter the track Friday for the new 3 p.m. Eastern first post, the changes will be obvious to all.
“We upgraded just about everything here, and I think fans will be really excited to see the changes,” publicity director John Englehardt said. “The place has really been spruced up, and everything that could be painted, was painted.”
AUBURN, Wash. -- Hollywood Harbor was full of himself Wednesday morning at Emerald Downs, three days after running 5 1/2 furlongs on dirt faster than any other horse in the history of North American racing.
“He came out of the race great,” trainer Chris Stenslie said of Hollywood Harbor, who has tended to bounce back quickly during his star-crossed 10-race career.
Fair Grounds in New Orleans and Delta Downs in Vinton, La., both received approvals for their Thoroughbred date requests during a Louisiana Racing Commission meeting Monday.
Fair Grounds will race 84 dates from Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, through Easter, March 31, 2013. The track will race mostly four days a week, Thursday through Sunday, through February. Fair Grounds will then shift to a five-day a week schedule, Wednesday through Sunday, in a departure from recent calendars in which the track raced five days a week early in the meet and then condensed to four.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – More than six months has passed since Acclamation won his fifth consecutive stakes at Santa Anita last October. Since then, he has overcome a bruised foot that forced him out of training and secured his Eclipse Award, as the outstanding older male of 2011.
Acclamation’s defense of that title begins in the $100,000 Inglewood Handicap over 1 1/8 miles on turf at Hollywood Park on Friday evening.
The Grade 3 Inglewood has arrived just in time for an enthusiastic, and anxious, trainer in Don Warren.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Races may not fill. The weather may not cooperate. A horse may get sick at an inopportune time.
Horsemen will face many of the same problems at Belmont Park they do everywhere else. One problem that trainers shouldn’t have during the 56-day spring/summer meet that begins Friday is finding a top-notch rider for their horse.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Endorsement will be returning to graded stakes competition for the first time since 2010 on Saturday, when he runs in the Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park. The race for 3-year-olds and up drew a field of 10 when entries were taken Wednesday. Endorsement will break from post 3, under Robby Albarado.
“I think it’s a great spot,” trainer Eoin Harty said of the draw. “Going a mile, you don’t want to be too far out, don’t want to be hung wide into the first turn. I’ve got no complaints at all.”
