Fri, 10/07/2011 - 14:23

Zia Park: Feature Mr Bojangles brings win streak into Hobbs Futurity

Feature Mr Bojangles and Silver For Me, who won two of the three major Quarter Horse futurities this summer at Ruidoso Downs, will meet for the first time Sunday in the Grade 2, $265,000 Hobbs America Futurity at Zia Park. The 400-yard race is half of a rich Quarter Horse stakes double that includes the Grade 2, $155,151 Hobbs America Derby.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 13:54

Woodbine: Holy Schneikes goes for series sweep in turf marathon

A starter allowance which would be the longest turf race ever run on the E.P. Taylor turf course since its 1994 opening is scheduled to take place here at Woodbine on Sunday.

The 1 3/4-mile race, which is the final leg of the Lou Cavalaris Marathon Series, offers a purse of $60,600 and attracted 13 entrants.

The series was inaugurated this season with two separate series of three legs, one of which was restricted to fillies, with all races scheduled for turf.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 13:47

Los Alamitos: Snitcher favored in Championship

A berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 10 is available in Sunday’s $150,000 Los Alamitos Championship, provided the winner is not Good Reason SA or Snitcher.

Those two have already earned berths to the Champion of Champions by winning the Los Alamitos Winter Championship (Good Reason Sa) in February and the Vessels Maturity (Snitcher) in June.

Should Good Reason Sa or Snitcher win the Los Alamitos Championship, the berth will revert to the Z. Wayne Griffin Trials at Los Alamitos on Nov. 19.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 13:29

Keeneland: Maiden win stamps Monastic contender in wide-open Bourbon

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes is not one of the many Win and You’re In races that Keeneland was hosting on a three-day “FallStars Weekend” that opened the fall meet, but it might as well be. The depth of this edition of the Bourbon, combined with the relative inexperience of 2-year-olds specializing in turf, figures to make its winner an automatic contender for the BC Juvenile Turf.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 13:10

Santa Anita: Mildly Offensive gets back to dirt

Benoit & Associates
Mildly Offensive, with Rafael Bejarano riding, wins the Santa Paula at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Santa Anita winter meet ended too soon for Mildly Offensive, whose career began with two blowout wins on a dirt surface she loved.

Mildly Offensive, a 3-year-old filly trained by Carla Gaines, dusted maidens by 4 1/4 lengths in February. She followed one month later with an allowance romp in which she earned a stakes-caliber Beyer Speed Figure of 98.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 13:07

Woodbine lures swarm of Europeans for Canadian International, E.P. Taylor, Nearctic

Michael Burns
The European-based Redwood, winner of the 2010 Northern Dancer. is back to take his second crack at the Canadian International.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario —The fields for next Sunday’s $1.5 million Canadian International, $1 million E.P. Taylor, and $500,000 Nearctic were still in flux as of Friday morning,

But one thing seems certain, and that is the fact the E.P. Taylor turf course will get a good workout on the blockbuster program.

A total of 18 possible candidates were listed for the Grade 1, 1 1/2-mile Canadian International. A maximum of 16 horses can start, with preference based on lifetime earnings.

The Grade 1 E.P. Taylor, a 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares, had 13 possible entrants.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 12:56

Keeneland: Motion making strategic move with Aruna

Jeff Coady/Coady Photography
Aruna, w ith Ramon Dominguez riding, wins the All Along on the Colonial Downs turf.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Earlier this year, trainer Graham Motion took a horse who had raced exclusively on turf and Polytrack and molded him into the winner of the Kentucky Derby.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 12:20

Fresno: Killer Graces tries two turns, dirt in Soviet Problem

Six 2-year-old fillies, including two-time stakes winner Killer Graces, signed up for Sunday’s $75,000 Soviet Problem Stakes at the Big Fresno Fair, a 1 1/16-mile race that caps a three-race stakes series for juveniles offered by the California Authority of Racing Fairs. The other races in the series were the 5 1/2-furlong Juan Gonzalez at Pleasanton and six-furlong Wine Country Debutante at Santa Rosa.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 12:01

Woodbine: Excaper ready to fire best shot in Grey Stakes

Michael Burns
Finale (left), under John Velazquez, wins the Grade 3 Summer Stakes at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Excaper will experiment around two turns Sunday at Woodbine in the $200,000 Grey Stakes, a Grade 3 event for 2-year-olds that has been won by the likes of Eclipse Award champion Macho Uno and Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

Excaper was a rare debut winner for trainer Ian Black when he won a six-furlong maiden special on the Polytrack by three lengths Aug. 7.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 18:30

Woodbine’s 20-cent minimums to be available to U.S. bettors

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Horseplayers from south of the border will be able to take advantage of the 20-cent minimum wager on Woodbine’s pick four and superfecta, beginning with Friday’s Thoroughbred and Standardbred programs.

Previously, the minimum wager on those bets was $1 when wagers originated from sites in the United States.

Canadians have had access to fractional wagers on racing from the Woodbine Entertainment Group’s Woodbine and Mohawk tracks since 2005.