ARCADIA, Calif. – It will be an upset if either Bob Baffert or Steve Asmussen does not win the $300,000 Malibu Stakes on Monday, opening day of the Santa Anita winter meet.
Baffert and Asmussen train seven of the 11 entrants in the Malibu, a seven-furlong Grade 1 that “always looks good on a r é sum é ,” Baffert said. “You have to give them a chance to win a Grade 1.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – The winds of change have blown through Santa Anita in recent months leading up to opening day of its 75th season on Monday.
First, before the fall meet the main track surface went back to being dirt after the Cushion Track/Pro-Ride era. It was out with the new, in with the old.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Ruler On Ice is not considering to be among the leading contenders for an Eclipse in the 3-year-old division. But he did win the Belmont Stakes and finished third in the Breeders' Cup Classic, third in the Grade 1 Haskell, and fourth in the Travers this year. Trained by Kelly Breen, he closed out the season finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Clark.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – In a race as wide open as Saturday’s $60,000 Ginger Brew Stakes at Gulfstream Park, it doesn’t hurt to have more than one bullet to fire at the competition. That is a theory trainer Mark Casse will embrace when he sends out two of his promising juvenile fillies, Spirited Miss and Sky High Lady, against 11 rivals on a Christmas Eve program that begins at noon Eastern. The Ginger Brew is for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One of the hottest contests in this year’s Eclipse Award voting will be for Filly and Mare Sprinter. Legitimate cases can be made for four members of the division, although the prevailing consensus seems to point to (in alphabetical order) Hilda’s Passion, Musical Romance, and Sassy Image as the three top contenders for the prize, all of whose connections are currently stabled in south Florida this winter.
Juan Carlos Guerrero, the leading trainer at the current Parx Racing meet, has been banned by the track for 10 years after being charged with a misdemeanor count of indecent assault without consent stemming from an incident last month involving a female employee of the Bensalem, Pa., track.
The Philadelphia Daily News reported Thursday that Guerrero, 41, will seek a court injunction to continue operating his stable while filing an appeal that would result in a hearing before the Pennsylvania State Racing Commission.
Sanagas, who most recently won the Hollywood Turf Cup, has been privately sold and has been transferred from Graham Motion to trainer Peter Miller in California, according to David Bernsen, who will have a minority share in the horse.
The majority interest in Sanagas will be held by BC3 Thoroughbreds, a partnership based in Australia whose goal with Sanagas is the Melbourne Cup next November.
Golden Gate Fields said it recorded average daily ontrack increases of 13.9 percent on its handle and 12.8 percent in attendance for the 2011 fall meet over the same meet last year. The 36-day fall meet concluded Dec. 18. The track did not release all-sources wagering figures, citing pending account-wagering totals.
The daily ontrack handle was $392,821 up from $344,994 during the 2010 meet, which had six more days of live racing. The total ontrack handle for 2011 was $14,141,548, just $348,199 less than the 2010 total.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom spent his 3-year-old birthday in relative anonymity, a virtual unknown with but a single Polytrack maiden win to his credit at 2.
Gold Megillah will begin his 3-year-old campaign in much the same manner, his only victory in four outings a one-sided, 18- length triumph over a sloppy track at Churchill Downs. But like Animal Kingdom, trainer Graham Motion is hoping Gold Megillah will emerge from the shadows to make a name for himself at 3, beginning here New Year’s Day in the inaugural Gulfstream Park Derby.
