Fri, 10/28/2011 - 17:00

Belmont Park: Four overnight stakes on closing-day card

ELMONT, N.Y. – The stakes action comes early and often Sunday, with four $60,000 overnight events helping to close out the 37-day fall meet.

The 1 p.m. opener is the Middle Stage scheduled for the Widener turf at 1 1/16 miles. Eight 3-year-old fillies entered for turf, headed by Good Karma, who makes her U.S. debut for Christophe Clement.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 16:53

Breeders' Cup: Cozi Rosie forced to miss Filly-Mare Turf

ARCADIA, Calif. - Cozi Rosie, the winner of two Grade 2 stakes this year, will not start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs next Friday after she was found to be “off behind” on Friday morning, according to Dottie Ingordo, the racing manager for owners Jerry and Ann Moss.

Cozi Rosie, trained by John Sadler, is scheduled to undergo nuclear scan tests at Santa Anita next week to further evaluate her condition, Ingordo said.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 16:39

Aqueduct casino opens after 10-year wait

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
The Resorts World New York casino at Aqueduct opened Friday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A day many thought would never come, did in fact arrive Friday with the opening of Resorts World New York, a casino at Aqueduct featuring video lottery terminals and electronic table games.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 16:27

Breeders' Cup: Motion back at scene of triumph

Barbara D. Livingston
Aruna, with Heather Craig riding, gallops over the main track at Churchill Downs on Friday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Graham Motion admitted it was an “emotional moment” when he stepped into Barn 22 on the Churchill Downs backstretch on Friday morning, the same barn that housed Motion and his Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom five months ago.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 16:21

Hawthorne: Essence of Bubbles must prove she can handle turf

STICKNEY, Ill. – There is a Midwest market for late-season 2-year-old turf stakes.

A day after the Royal Glint, an open 2-year-old race, attracted a full gate, the Gold Digger for 2-year-old fillies Sunday at Hawthorne drew an overflow field. Twelve are in the main body of the one-mile race, with a 13th horse on the also-eligible list.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 16:11

Churchill Downs: Seven Lively Sins preps for Jackpot in Iroquois Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Last Saturday, Delta Downs ran the $200,000 Jean Lafitte Stakes, a race won by My Adonis, as the official prep for the $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot on Nov. 19.

This Sunday, Churchill Downs is running what might be considered the unofficial prep – the Grade 3, $100,000 Iroquois Stakes, the co-feature on the track’s opening-day, all-juvenile racecard.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 16:08

Santa Anita: Weemissfrankie shows morning zip

ARCADIA, Calif. – The more Peter Eurton investigated, the more he realized how fast Weemissfrankie worked at Santa Anita on Friday.

In her final workout before the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on Friday, Weemissfrankie zipped five furlongs in 59.20 seconds. Maybe the track was fast later in the morning, Eurton thought briefly. After checking with clockers, Eurton realized that Weemissfrankie had one of the quickest works of the morning, the second-fastest of 44 recorded works at the distance.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 15:56

Breeders' Cup Clocker: Rocket Twentyone, A. U. Miner work

Barbara D. Livingston
Rocket Twentyone worked four furlongs in 50.27 seconds from the gate Friday at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Friday morning was the coldest yet since the Breeders’ Cup clocker reports began last Sunday, but at least it was dry and the main track fast. Unfortunately, enough rain fell over the previous two days to keep the turf course closed for a second straight morning, forcing the connections of at least a couple Breeders’ Cup contenders to postpone scheduled grass workouts until Saturday.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 14:59

Churchill Downs: Aubby K faces tougher test in opening-day Pocahontas

Barbara D. Livingston
Aubby K , a 15-length maiden winner at Belmont, trains Friday at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Strutting your stuff in a five-horse field of maiden sprinters is one thing. Doing it in a full lineup of stakes horses going a one-turn mile is something entirely different.

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 14:50

Santa Anita: Troeger wants Sirocco Strike to relax in sprint

ARCADIA, Calif. – The speed duel between The Factor and Sirocco Strike in the Grade 1 Ancient Title Stakes on Oct. 8 cost both dearly. After a half-mile in 43.80 seconds, they faded to finish a well-beaten fourth and fifth.

While The Factor is part of trainer Bob Baffert’s team for the Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs next weekend, Sirocco Strike will stay in California. He is part of a field of five in an optional claimer over six furlongs at Santa Anita on Sunday.