When asked why he had decided to winter his stable at Fair Grounds rather than Oaklawn Park this season, trainer Larry Jones cited two reasons related to racing surface. First, Jones thinks his horses thrive on the Fair Grounds main track, and secondly, Fair Grounds – unlike Oaklawn – has a grass course.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Hollywood Park concluded its 26-day autumn meeting on Sunday with an increase of 9.5 percent in handle on its live races from the 2010 meeting.
The track released very limited data on attendance and handle. Fox example, no comparative figures were released of handle generated from simulcasting of races from other tracks.
A new $250,000 stakes for 3-year-olds, the Robert Hilton Memorial, is part of the 2012 stakes schedule released Monday by Charles Town.
The seven-furlong Hilton is part of a six-stakes program that launches the stakes season on April 14. The first of four big event nights at the West Virginia track, it will also include the $1 million Charles Town Classic, elevated to Grade 2 status, and the $200,000 Sugar Maple, a race for fillies and mares that was worth $250,000 for its first three runnings.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Stables, like people, have different personalities. Take the case of the stables run by Joan Scott and Robert G. Smith.
Scott has developed a reputation as a solid developer of young runners, including Dr. Zic, a Grade 1 stakes winner who earned $365,786, while following a racing schedule that includes stops at Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Arlington Park, and other high-profile venues.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif.- El Aguila Real lived up to the role of fastest qualifier with a head victory in Sunday’s $171,750 Southern California Derby at Los Alamitos.
The Grade 1 Southern California Derby was the closing-night feature of the track’s 2010-2011 meeting. The 2011-2012 meeting begins on Dec. 30.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Recovered from an October bout with ulcers, Mensa Heat won his second stakes of 2011 in Sunday’s $84,500 On Trust Handicap for statebreds at Hollywood Park.
The On Trust was the closing-day feature of the Hollywood Park autumn meeting.
From the time he left the paddock for the On Trust, trainer Ted H. West had confident that Mensa Heat would display a top effort, and that the recent ailments were no longer an issue for the 5-year-old gelding.
Whisper’s Sister closed from last to pull a 19-1 upset Sunday in the $110,000 Enchantress at Sunland Park. She rallied for a half-length victory over Quinton’s Doll Who, while it was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third to Capote’s Charm.
The Enchantress, at a mile, was restricted to 2-year-old fillies bred in New Mexico.
Trainer Bob Hess Jr., and jockey Garrett Gomez reached milestones with the win by So Tempted ($10.40) in Sunday’s first race at Hollywood Park. Hess, 46, won the 1,000th race of his career, while Gomez, 39, won his 500th race at Hollywood Park.
Blacker wins first race, loses winner on claim
Trainer Dan Blacker won the first race of his career with the $25,000 claimer Hameildaeme in Sunday’s fourth race at Hollywood Park. But when the filly was claimed, Blacker’s stable shrunk from five runners to four.
Retired jockey Patrick Valenzuela was fined $1,000 by Hollywood Park stewards on Sunday for failing to ride at Hollywood Park on Nov. 17.
Valenzuela, who announced his retirement on Dec. 9, did not contact the stewards or his agent before the start of racing on Nov. 17. He later said that he missed the program because he was attending to an emergency in his fiancée’s family.
