LEXINGTON, Ky. – Pachattack was good enough to run third in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic last fall, but that’s not the scary part. What makes the 6-year-old Pachattack such a major threat to win the Doubledogdare Stakes on Friday at Keeneland is the way she performs over Polytrack, as witnessed by her six-length romp last spring in the Grade 3 Arlington Matron and a sharp runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Spinster here last fall.
There’s reason for optimism as Finger Lakes launches its 50th season of live racing Friday.
Nine stakes that were slashed from last year’s schedule because of a dramatic reduction in purse supplement funding from the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund have been restored, giving the western New York track that opened on May 23, 1962, a 13-stakes package worth slightly more than $1 million.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Town Prize’s 3-year-old debut had been delayed on three occasions at three different racetracks.
But Town Prize’s return proved to be well worth waiting for, as the homebred 3-year-old was a romping winner of last Sunday’s $155,800 Woodstock Stakes under jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva for owner/breeder Bill Sorokolit and trainer Darwin Banach.
“He’s doing fantastic,” said trainer Darwin Banach, a couple of mornings after watching Town Prize score by a widening 5 1/4 lengths in the six-furlong Woodstock for 3-year-olds.
ALTOONA, Iowa – Significant changes mark the beginning of the 24th year of Thoroughbred racing at Prairie Meadows, which begins Friday and runs through Aug. 11.
Prairie Meadows has adjusted its four-day racing week and will replace Monday and Tuesday evening cards with Thursday night and Sunday afternoon racing. The more traditional format will be Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays with a first post of 6:30 p.m. and Sundays beginning at 1 p.m.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Mark Casse, Woodbine’s perennial leading trainer, has been a slow starter at the meet in recent years, and this year is no exception. It shouldn’t be too long before he heats up, however, and he will send out the entry of Golden History and Sky Dreamer in Friday’s eighth race, a first-level allowance for 3-year-old fillies.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Nick Nicholson, the Keeneland president and chief executive who presided over two major renovations at the track and auction house, will retire on Sept. 1, after nearly 13 years at the helm of the not-for-profit company. He will be succeeded by the association's current vice president and chief financial officer, Bill Thomason.
Nicholson, the sixth president in the 76-year history of Keeneland, said on Wednesday afternoon that he decided late last year to announce his retirement this spring because of his confidence in the association's management and employees.
Here's my race-by-race rundown of Friday's pick four at Aqueduct on April 20, 2012. I'm building my wager with TicketMaker, found exclusively on DRF.com. I'm making incremental bets at the minimum $0.50, with a budget of $100.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden and the Daily Racing Form ’s David Grening will be presented the Old Hilltop Award at Pimlico’s Alibi Breakfast on May 17, two days prior to the Preakness Stakes. The Old Hilltop Award honors those who have covered Thoroughbred racing with excellence and distinction.
Country Day, second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint last fall and a three-time stakes winner of more than $500,000, has been retired after incurring a stress fracture in a recent workout at Churchill Downs.
Owned by the Klein family of Louisville and trained by Steve Margolis, Country Day won 7 of 19 starts and earned $503,829 when racing exclusively in sprints on dirt, turf, and synthetic. He won his final race, the Feb. 25 Colonel Power Stakes at Fair Grounds.
