Thu, 03/22/2012 - 17:48

Charles Town: Davis has the numbers

Trainer Scooter Davis has the numbers stacked in his favor for the semifinals of the Charles Town Starter Tournament on Saturday night.

Davis has three runners, including Pure Rey, an easy winner in his quarter-final heat, for the first of two $30,000 races at seven furlongs and Disco Indy, a six-time winner in 2011, for the second division. That gives Davis four shots among the 17 horses vying for 10 spots in the finals.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 17:44

Aqueduct: Compliance Officer back with Brown

Barbara D. Livingston
Compliance Officer is being pointed to the Kingston for New York-breds.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Compliance Officer, the former claimer turned multiple stakes winner, recently rejoined trainer Bruce Brown’s Belmont Park barn and is nearing a return to the work tab.

Claimed for $25,000 last May, Compliance Officer won 6 of 7 starts, including 4 stakes. After finishing 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, Compliance Officer won the Claiming Crown Jewel at Fair Grounds in December.

Brown said the $125,000 Kingston for New York-breds at Belmont on May 27 would be Compliance Officer’s first objective. Brown would likely try to find a race beforehand.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 17:11

Remington: Cold Cash 123 returns to action in Leo

Cold Cash 123, the reigning world champion Quarter Horse, will launch his 2012 campaign Saturday night in the Grade 1, $100,000 Leo Stakes at Remington Park. The 400-yard race drew a field of 10 and includes multiple Grade 1 winner Llano Teller.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 17:02

Aqueduct: Risky Rachel faces challenge from Big Brownie in Broadway

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Risky Rachel, Javier Castellano up, wins the Iroquois on New York Showcase Day at Belmont.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Saturday’s $75,000 Broadway Stakes at Aqueduct will be the first start for one trainer and the last start for one horse.

Juan Coronel, who has served as an assistant to several trainers on this circuit, will send out his first starter in Risky Rachel, the morning-line favorite in the Broadway for New York-bred fillies and mares at six furlongs over the main track.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 16:45

Fair Grounds: Inspired will have to cope with other speed

Bob Coglianese
Inspired, John Velazquez up, wins the Ladies Turf Sprint at Gulfstream.

Two trainers handle six of the 10 entrants in the $75,000 Happy Ticket Stakes, the featured ninth race on Saturday at Fair Grounds, and a tag-team approach from these outfits might be enough to make favored Inspired vulnerable in the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint.

And Inspired, from the look of things, will take some beating.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 16:38

Fair Grounds: Star Guitar gets shot at earnings record in Costa Rising

Star Guitar will make his next start on April 1 in the Costa Rising Stakes at Fair Grounds after additional funds were secured to boost the Costa Rising purse from $60,000 to $90,000, giving Star Guitar a chance to become the richest Louisiana-bred if he can win the race.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 16:11

Aqueduct: Romancing the Gold could wind up Triple Crown nominee

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Owner Adam Wachtel was at Aqueduct on Dec. 31, looking at a field of soon-to-be 3-year-olds in the paddock for a maiden race. While there were several horses that on form drew his interest, there was one that caught his eye from a physical standpoint.

That horse, Romancing the Gold, won the third race that day at 41-1. Shortly thereafter, Wachtel made inquiries into possibly purchasing the horse. Rebuked at first, Wachtel and his business partner Nils Brous kept tabs on the gelding.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 16:04

Oaklawn Park: Comedero gets audition in Hot Springs

Oaklawn Park/Coady Photography
Comedero wins the $50,000 Nodouble on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn Park.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Comedero is one of the best horses ever bred in Arkansas, and with the right kind of effort Saturday in the $75,000 Hot Springs at Oaklawn, he could get a shot at his home state’s biggest sprint race, the Grade 3, $250,000 Count Fleet Handicap.

The Hot Springs, at six furlongs, has drawn a field of 11. The group includes Riley Tucker, winner of the $50,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn in January; Silver Magnus, runner-up in last year’s Count Fleet; and Chief of Affairs, the defending champ in the Hot Springs.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 15:46

Gulfstream: Simmard, Newsdad clash again in Pan American

Bob Coglianese
Simmard (5), who outfinished Newsdad by a nose four weeks ago in the Mac Diarmida, faces his rival again in Saturday's Pan American.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Roger Attfield is a nominee for induction into the National Racing Museum Hall of Fame for the first time this year. One reason for that honor is all the success he has had with veteran turf horses like Simmard, the starting highweight and likely co-favorite along with Newsdad in Saturday’s $150,000 Pan American at Gulfstream Park.

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 15:42

Turfway: Rushaway can be breakthrough event

Tom Keyser
Gold Megillah will have John Velazquez riding for trainer Graham Motionn.

FLORENCE, Ky. – It would not be altogether surprising, nor unprecedented, for a maiden to win the $75,000 Rushaway Stakes. It happened eight years ago when a homebred named Brass Hat notched his first victory in the 1 1/16-mile race on the way to becoming a millionaire.

Mark Casse will send out the maiden Dynamical as one of the main contenders among the eight 3-year-olds entered to run Saturday at Turfway Park in the Rushaway, one of three undercard stakes on the 12-race Vinery Spiral program.