Mon, 11/21/2011 - 15:50

Aqueduct: Spina could benefit from a wet track

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The last week of racing on the main track is the biggest week of racing at the fall meet, though you’d never know it from the looks of Wednesday’s card, where maiden races comprise the first four legs of the pick six and the feature is an optional claimer for fillies and mares that carries first-level allowance conditions.

The six-furlong feature is a closely matched confrontation between Spina and Full of Gut, a pair of hard-knockers who are drawn in the two inside posts and in for the optional $25,000 claim price.

Mon, 11/21/2011 - 15:48

Churchill Downs: McGee nearing 300th victory at home track

Barbara D. Livingston
Worldly is one of six horses trainer Paul McGee has entered on Wednesday's card at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When a jockey or trainer is approaching a personal milestone, inevitably it seems that person goes cold, and the celebratory placard created in advance by the track publicity department starts to lose its shine.

If that happens to trainer Paul McGee, it won’t be from a lack of effort. Sitting on 295 victories at Churchill Downs, his hometrack track, he could conceivably hit the 300-win milestone before the meet ends Sunday.

Mon, 11/21/2011 - 13:39

Woodbine: Apres Midi fits with these

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Apres Midi was scratched from a first-level allowance last Sunday in favor of Wednesday’s third race at Woodbine, and he should be competitive in the $40,000 claimer for nonwinners of two.

Apres Midi raced wide when he ran second following a layoff in his second start against $20,000 maidens Sept. 2. Three weeks later for $25,000, he had a terrible trip while stuck in traffic, before ending up fifth in his first try around two turns.

Mon, 11/21/2011 - 13:26

Churchill Downs: Ravi's Song proven on dirt

Lou Hodges Jr.
Ravi's Song, with Corey Lanerie riding, wins the Pelleteri at Fair Grounds.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Turf-to-dirt might have become something of an overlooked handicapping angle since the synthetic era got under way a few years ago, but Thanksgiving Day racing fans at Churchill Downs might be reminded of its relevance when the Falls City Handicap is run Thursday.

Ravi’s Song, who will be ridden by the red-hot Corey Lanerie, will be switching back to the main track after three straight solid efforts on turf when she breaks from the far outside post as one of the top contenders in a field of 10 fillies and mares entered in the Grade 2, $175,000 Falls City.

Mon, 11/21/2011 - 13:00

Woodbine: New bit boosts Essence Hit Man in Kennedy Road

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - While Atlantic Hurricane’s success in the Bessarabian on Saturday brought some clarity to the female sprint division, Essence Hit Man thrust himself into an already muddled picture for male sprinter honors with his victory in Saturday’s $174,000 Kennedy Road.

A change of equipment seemingly worked wonders there as trainer Audre Cappuccitti switched bits and then watched the 4-year-old Essence Hit Man make his speed stand up in the Grade 3, six-furlong Kennedy Road.

Mon, 11/21/2011 - 12:48

Woodbine: Atlantic Hurricane's claiming days are over

Michael Burns
Atlantic Hurricane, claimed for $40,000 earlier this year, likely will be voted Canada's champion female sprinter after taking the Grade 3 Bessarabian.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – There is no trophy for the claim of the year at Woodbine, but there are other tangible rewards.

Atlantic Hurricane has earned $335,760 since being claimed for $40,000 by trainer Stuart Simon here June 10, and she recorded her fifth win in six starts in Sunday’s Grade 3, $166,800 Bessarabian Stakes. With victories in the Grade 3, seven-furlong Seaway and the Grade 3, six-furlong Ontario Fashion also in the books for her current connections, Atlantic Hurricane will be difficult to overlook in the Sovereign Award balloting for Canada’s champion female sprinter.

Mon, 11/21/2011 - 12:26

Penn National: Ben's Cat takes his show to the dirt in Six Bits

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
Ben's Cat collects the ninth stakes victory of his career in the off-the-turf Laurel Dash.

The Maryland-based gelding Ben’s Cat has already made one successful excursion to Penn National Race Course this season, so he’s returning to familiar surroundings as the headliner in Wednesday’s inaugural running of the $200,000 Six Bits Handicap.

He is, however, a stranger to Penn National’s main track.

Sun, 11/20/2011 - 19:25

Hollywood Park: Jockeys refuse to ride last three races because of unsafe track conditions

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Hollywood Park canceled the final three races of its nine-race Sunday program after jockeys deemed that the Cushion Track surface, primarily areas on the backstretch, was unsafe after sustaining an estimated inch of rain.

As a result, a pick six pool of $356,005 was refunded in full after three of the six races had been run. Thursday’s eight-race program will begin with a pick six carryover of $62,888, which had carried over from Saturday into Sunday.

Sun, 11/20/2011 - 18:14

Hollywood Park: Majestic City will await CashCall Futurity

Shigeki Kikkawa
Majestic City will bypass next Sunday's Generous Stakes in favor of the CashCall Futurity on Dec. 17.

Majestic City, the multiple stakes winner who was 13th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5, will make his next start in the $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park on Dec. 17.

Trainer Peter Miller considered starting Majestic City in the $100,000 Generous Stakes on Sunday, but has opted for more time between races.

“I want a little more time to regroup,” Miller said.

Miller won the 2010 CashCall Futurity with Comma to the Top, a contender in Saturday’s $100,000 Vernon Underwood Stakes over six furlongs.

Sun, 11/20/2011 - 18:06

Woodbine: Atlantic Hurricane solidifies Sovereign credentials by taking Bessarabian

Michael Burns
Atlantic Hurricane, claimed for $40,000 earlier this year, likely will be voted Canada's champion female sprinter after taking the Grade 3 Bessarabian.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario— Atlantic Hurricane  probably locked up the Sovereign Award for champion female sprinter with a decisive score Sunday at Woodbine in the Grade 3, $166,800 Bessarabian Stakes.

A determined Moonlit Beauty set honest fractions in the seven-furlong sprint, while being tracked by Zermatt, one of three Todd Pletcher-trained shippers in the 10-horse field.