Thu, 11/10/2011 - 16:42

Aqueduct: Pick six carries over for third day; $188,308 in pool

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Nobody correctly picked six winners for the third straight racing day, resulting in a carryover of $188,308 into Friday’s program at Aqueduct.

After a 5-of-6 consolation that paid more than $15,000 on Wednesday, the Thursday consolation was $1,339 for tickets with five winners.

Favorites were blanked from a sequence comprised of Wise Harmony ($29.60), Little Wyatt ($8.80), Lime Zest ($10.40), Glory in Motion ($17), Amylimehouse ($10.20), and Star of Escondida ($7.60).

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 16:05

Belmont business drops at fall meet

Business was off sharply at Belmont’s fall meet, as all-sources handle fell from $293,163,373 in 2010 to $263,037,788, a decrease of 10.3 percent. Over 35 full cards and one abbreviated card, the daily average handle was $7,306, 605.

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 15:42

Hollywood: Baffert's Breeders' Cup mostly disappointing

ARCADIA, Calif. – Breeders’ Cup 2011 was largely forgettable for trainer Bob Baffert, whose nine starters produced a Juvenile Sprint win by odds-on Secret Circle and a runner-up finish by 14-1 outsider Game On Dude in the Classic. They were the only Baffert runners to hit the board in the Breeders’ Cup.

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 15:33

Churchill: Mrs. Revere has late-season appeal

Barbara D. Livingston
Hungry Island, with Alex Solis riding, wins the Grade 2 Lake Placid at Saratoga.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Lots of trainers with a good 3-year-old turf filly seem to have the same idea about the Mrs. Revere Stakes. It’s a Grade 2 with a $175,000 purse, it’s the last chance to run in such a major event against 3-year-olds, and with temperatures dropping, all turf courses north of the Mason-Dixon line are about to close shop for the winter.

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 15:26

Hollywood: Amazombie's 2012 plan ends with BC Sprint

Barbara D. Livingston
Amazombie (left), with Mike Smith up, defeats Force Freeze by a neck in the BC Sprint.

ARCADIA, Calif. – January is a big month for Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Amazombie and Bill Spawr, the gelding’s trainer and co-owner with Tom Sanford.

Spawr has sketched a tentative six-start campaign for Amazombie in 2012 that will begin in January and end in the BC Sprint.

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 15:23

Lone Star: The Long Knife capable of turning tables in Texas Classic Futurity

There are reasons to believe The Long Knife could turn the tables on fastest qualifier Sixes Streak in Saturday night’s Grade 1, $1,158,941 Texas Classic Futurity for Quarter Horses at Lone Star Park.

The 400-yard race closes out the meet and is the richest stakes in Texas. It will share a program with the $335,631 Texas Classic Derby.

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 15:13

Calder: Mad Flatter yet to be beaten over surface

Jim Lisa
Mad Flatter, with John Court riding, earns a repeat victory in the Spend A Buck at Calder.

MIAMI – Mad Flatter should spend more time at Calder. The Florida bred has had a nice career racing primarily outside his native state, but he has been perfect in his only two local starts, having won both the 2010 and 2011 editions of the Grade 3 Spend A Buck Handicap.

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 14:12

Woodbine: Unbridled Kimanchi stays home for Autumn Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Brian Lynch has defied the pundits in the past, with prime examples being his victories last year with Golden Moka in Fort Erie’s Prince of Wales and Miami Deco in Woodbine’s Breeders’ Stakes.

So it may be unwise to be unduly dismissive of Unbridled Kimanchi, who will be contesting Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Autumn Stakes after recording his first lifetime win in his last appearance.

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 14:03

Beulah Park: Catlaunch formidable foe in Ruff-Kirchberg Handicap

GROVE CITY, Ohio – Catlaunch will be heavily favored to win the $50,000 Ruff/Kirchberg Memorial Handicap at Beulah Park on Saturday when he faces six other Ohio-accredited older horses.

Catlaunch, a 10-year-old gelding, has tailed off in his last three races after winning his first four starts of the year. A return to the Ohio-accredited level may be just what the multiple Ohio champion needs to return to his winning ways.

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 14:01

Churchill: Homeister wins in second race of comeback

Rosemary Homeister Jr. was all smiles in the Churchill Downs winner’s circle Thursday after prevailing with just her second mount since returning from maternity leave. Homeister won the second race aboard favored Eden Star ($4.60), a 3-year-old filly owned by Jim Gladden and trained by Eric Reed.

“This is great!” said Homeister, the second-leading female jockey all-time in North America. “Eric really had the filly fit and ready to go, and I appreciate that.”