OLDSMAR, Fla. – Carlos A. Garcia came to the United States in 1964 from his native Argentina with $100 in his pocket and a dream: to train Thoroughbred horses and win races.
Now, 48 years and 136 stakes winners later, the dream has come true and then some.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Garrett Gomez, found to have a fractured left heel after a pre-race accident Sunday at Santa Anita, was to visit Dr. James Tibone, an orthopedic specialist, for further evaluation Monday afternoon, Gomez’s agent, Tony Matos, said Monday morning.
Tibone is well-known in Southern California for his treatment of the region’s elite athletes.
“I want Garrett to see the best,” Matos said. “Garrett was in good spirits last night.”
ARCADIA, Calif. -- Mike Machowsky, the trainer of Caracortado, had given up on his horse. So too had track announcer Trevor Denman, who said Caracortado was not firing. But neither jockey Rafael Bejarano nor, most importantly, Caracortado, thought all was lost, and he displayed a breathtaking, last-to-first rush in the stretch to capture the Grade 3, $98,000 Daytona Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita.
Quiet Again edged 4-5 favorite Red Lead by a head to win the $50,000 Winsham Lad at Sunland Park on Sunday. It was another three-quarters of a length back in third to Vamoose.
The Winsham Lad was the first race in Sunland’s series for older horses that continues with the $50,000 Curribot in February and the $100,000 Sunland Park Handicap in April.
Caixa Eletronica is probably more effective at distances beyond six furlongs, but his class and a potent closing kick carried him to a relatively easy 4 3/4-length victory in Sunday’s $75,000 Rise Jim Stakes at Aqueduct.
Racing widest of all and last - albeit relatively close to the pace - in a compact five-horse field, Caixa Eletronica, under Cornelio Velasquez, surged past longshot Regal Revenge inside the eighth-pole en route to his 16th career victory in his 49th start.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.- One day after Gulfstream Park’s photo-finish camera just barely separated the top two finishers in the Marshua’s River Stakes it found nothing to choose between Delightful Mary and R Holiday Mood, who dead-heated for first in Sunday’s $60,000 Ocala Stakes.
Trainer Mike Maker continued his dominance of Turfway Park when he swept the top two spots Saturday night in the 24th running of the $50,000 Turfway Prevue at the Florence, Ky., track.
Mr. Prankster, ridden by John McKee, scored a 3 1/2-length victory in the 6 1/2-furlong Polytrack race, with his uncoupled Maker-trained stablemate, Magical Season, rallying from well back to be up for second at 11-1, another half-length ahead of Frankie Is Rock in a field of 12 3-year-olds.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It was a family affair at Santa Anita on Saturday for trainer Kory Owens, whose homebred Uh Oh Bango scored a mild upset in the Grade 2, $150,000 San Pasqual Stakes to establish himself as one of the top contenders for the Santa Anita Handicap two months hence.
Uh Oh Bango ($16) stalked the early pace of Skipshot, surged to front heading into the stretch of the 1 1/16-mile race, and safely held off Tres Borrachos, the 2-1 favorite, to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Skipshot faded to third, and was followed, in order, by Tweebster, Java Man, Utopian, and Massone.
Not all that many years ago, the Louisiana-bred older-male turf division came down to two horses: if Coach Rags wasn’t winning a statebred-restricted turf stakes, then Mr. Sulu was. The situation has grown more complex, with a larger group of horses taking turns going to the winner’s circle.
