Tue, 10/18/2011 - 14:02

Calder: Brei, Gold considering three for Breeders' Cup

Jim Lisa
Awesome Belle, with Luis Jurado riding, wins the My Dear Girl.

MIAMI – Owner-breeder Fred Brei and his trainer Stanley Gold said Tuesday that all three of their 2011 Florida Stallion Stakes winners – Fort Loudon, Awesome Belle, and Redbud Road – remain under consideration for this year’s Breeders’ Cup, although of the trio Fort Loudon is the most likely to go.

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 14:01

Golden Gate shows increase in fall meet daily handle

The Golden Gate Fields 22-day fall meet, which ran from Aug. 19-Oct. 2, showed a daily average handle increase over the 2010 meet, which lasted 27 days.

The all-sources average daily handle showed a 5.51 percent increase over 2010, to $2,948,582 compared with $2,794,549 in 2010.

The track showed significant increases ontrack. Average daily ontrack betting on Golden Gate’s races rose 19 percent from 2010.

Attendance jumped 27 percent per day from 2,352 in 2010 to 2,988 this year.

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 13:57

Keeneland: Three good fillies set sights on Raven Run

Mike Montgomery Photo
Julian Pimentel guides Strike the Moon to her first career stakes victory in the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Discretion could prove the better part of valor for a trio of 3-year-old fillies who will reconvene Saturday in the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland. No one could have blamed their respective connections if they had opted for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, but that temptation was resisted on all counts.

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 13:55

Big Fresno Fair finishes fast

The Big Fresno Fair ended what was a strong year for the fairs with a bang Sunday, handling $2,080,299 on the 13-race card, which handed out purses totaling $255,730.

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 13:31

Woodbine: Cox hits high point with Hard Not to Like

Michael Burns
Hard Not to Like, trained by Gail Cox and ridden by Patrick Husbands, wins the Cup and Saucer.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – She wasn’t a participant in the Grade 1 stakes extravaganza here last Sunday, but last weekend still was one to remember for trainer Gail Cox.

Hard Not to Like gave Cox the biggest win of her career in last Saturday’s $250,400 Cup and Saucer, a 1 1/16-mile turf race in which she was the lone member of her sex.

A homebred 2-year-old filly who races for Garland Williamson, Hard Not to Like had suffered her first defeat four weeks earlier when she finished fifth, beaten 10 1/4 lengths, in the Grade 3 Natalma over one mile on turf.

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 13:13

Woodbine: Galan's Wings seeks to remain unbeaten in allowance sprint feature

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Galan’s Wings will try to keep her unbeaten record intact in Thursday’s second race at Woodbine, a six-furlong allowance for 2-year-old fillies, in which her tactical speed could come in handy.

Galan’s Wings, trained by Roger Attfield for Harlequin Ranches, annihilated a field of $20,000 maidens in her first start Sept. 4. She shrugged off an early challenger for the lead in that six-furlong sprint, and then widened her lead throughout the stretch to score by nearly seven lengths, with a Beyer Speed Figure of 55.

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 13:03

Belmont: McGaughey hopes history repeats with Hymn Book

ELMONT, N.Y. – At Belmont Park’s spring meet, Shug McGaughey sent out Hymn Book and Boisterous to win off-turf and on-turf versions of the Three Coins Up overnight stakes three days apart.

After winning Saturday’s Knickerbocker Stakes with a freshened Boisterous, McGaughey looks to do the same thing with Hymn Book in Thursday’s Firethorn overnight stakes. The 5-year-old Hymn Book makes his first start since a sixth-place finish in the Bernard Baruch over a turf course labeled good.

Mon, 10/17/2011 - 16:17

Delta Downs opener starts road to the Jackpot

Delta Downs in Vinton, La., opens Wednesday night on the countdown to the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot. The biggest race of the meet is exactly a month away, with the prep for the 2-year-old fixture, the $200,000 Jean Lafitte, to be run Saturday night. The races are two of the highlights of the 88-date season that will run through March 17, 2012.

Mon, 10/17/2011 - 16:03

Belmont Park: Battingstar will face pressure in turf sprint

ELMONT, N.Y. – With rain forecast as an odds-on proposition, Mother Nature could wreak havoc with Wednesday’s card. Five races are scheduled for turf, beginning with race 2, a six-furlong optional claimer scheduled for the inner course.

Mon, 10/17/2011 - 15:48

Remington Park: Plans undecided for Redeemed, Prayer for Relief after Oklahoma Derby

Dustin Orona Photography
Redeemed, equipped with blinkers for the first time, captures the Oklahoma Derby under jockey Edgar Prado.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Plans for Redeemed and Prayer for Relief following their respective first- and third-place finishes in the Oklahoma Derby were still being determined Monday, while Alternation likely wrapped his 3-year-old campaign with his runner-up finish in Sunday’s race at Remington Park.