HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jim DiVito was hoping to get his 2011-2012 Gulfstream Park meet off to a big start when he entered a pair of his promising 2-year-olds on Saturday’s opening day program, including the undefeated Luke of York, in the $100,000 Spectacular Bid.
Instead, DiVito’s meet began in total frustration when he was forced to scratch both Luke of York from the main event and Nachas and Joy from the seventh race after discovering both horses to be coughing on Saturday.
When Finger Lakes brings down the curtain on its 2011 season Monday, it will also mark the end of John Grabowski’s riding career.
Grabowski, 50, who led the Finger Lakes jockey standings six times and is one of only three riders to win more than 3,000 races at the western New York track, announced he will retire to become a trainer after riding four mounts on Monday’s closing-day nine-race card.
“I am still riding at a high level but I feel like it’s time,” said Grabowski. “I’ve had a great career.”
At first glance, Silent Wisper looks like an easy horse to eliminate as a contender in Tuesday’s feature at Laurel Park, a second-level optional $25,000 claimer for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the main track.
Formerly based at Woodbine, the 4-year-old Silent Wisper has raced exclusively on turf and Polytrack throughout her 20-race career. She has not finished higher than seventh in her last three starts while beaten a combined 33 3/4 lengths at odds of 11-1, 68-1, and 20-1. Her new trainer, Catherine Robinson, is 0 for 17 at Laurel’s fall meet.
Sunland Park’s profile rose sharply back in 2009, when one of its own, Mine That Bird, won the Kentucky Derby. The track’s 3-year-old program gained even more momentum last season, when another Sunland Derby grad, Ruler On Ice, went on to win this year’s Belmont Stakes, and the Sunland Oaks winner Plum Pretty won the Kentucky Oaks.
She’s All In won her fourth consecutive race while defending her title in the $50,000 Ladies on the Lawn at Remington Park on Friday night.
The one-mile race for Oklahoma-bred fillies and mares was moved to the main track following last week’s decision to call off turf racing for the remainder of the meet.
Raul Martinez, who experienced great success as a trainer at Fairmount Park before mentoring his son Ralph to dominate racing there in the early 2000s, died Nov. 27 in southern Illinois. He was 73.
Martinez teamed with kingpin owner Louis O’Brien to rule their circuit for years, winning a career-high 136 races in 1978 before turning over his stable to his son in 2000. Funeral services were held Thursday in Collinsville, Ill.
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MIAMI - Trainer Shug McGaughey proved once again why he is in the Hall of Fame after bringing Casbalanca Smile back from an 11-month layoff to win the 1 1/2-mile La Prevoyante Handicap on Friday's closing-day program at Calder.
MIAMI - Silver Medallion, who was on the Kentucky Derby trail earlier this season, continues to give the impression his best days lie ahead on the grass after rallying to a 1 3/4-length victory over the 9-5 favorite Mr. Ryder in Friday’s $100,000 Tropical Turf Handicap at Calder.
NEW ORLEANS – The trainer Andrew McKeever had a 2011 Fair Grounds meet that felt almost once-in-a-lifetime good. Irish-born McKeever, a 12-percent winner for his career, never had won more than five races during a Fair Grounds meeting, but last season, he went 11-6-7 from just 33 starters. McKeever treated bettors just as well as Fair Grounds treated him, producing a $5.01 return on investment with those runners. And while McKeever’s barn stayed strong from start to finish, he was particularly hot in the early going, winning with 5 of 9 starters between opening day, Nov. 25, and Dec.
