Sat, 07/16/2011 - 12:48

Del Mar: Cassidy ready for opening week stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
The usual Q.T. is being freshened on a farm and will miss the Del Mar meet.

Dr. Green may be a little more focused on racing when he starts in Wednesday’s $100,000 Oceanside Stakes on opening day at Del Mar.

“I castrated him since his last race and he’s trained well,” trainer Jim Cassidy said on Saturday.

It was a drastic move, but one that Cassidy hopes will give his stable a boost on the opening week of the Del Mar meeting. He also plans to start Oceanside nominee Robbie’s War in an allowance race on turf and Kid Edward in Saturday’s $300,000 Eddie Read Stakes, a Grade 1 over 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 12:47

Parx: Two show turf talent

Bounding Bi and Ushuaia have started a combined 31 times and have gotten the opportunity to run on turf just twice apiece. Considering how well they both have done, it’s safe to assume there will be a lot more grass racing in their futures.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 08:06

Penn National: Don'tgetsuspicious holds off favorite in Daylily

The Maryland-based mare Don'tgetsuspicious, who had been excelling in ultra-short sprints at Charles Town since beginning her 2011 campaign in March, carried her speed for six furlongs to upset odds-on favorite Eve Giselle in Friday night's $75,000 Daylily Stakes at Penn National Race Course.

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 17:06

Del Mar: Smith, Sutherland to compete in match race

Benoit & Associates
Jockeys Chantal Sutherland and Mike Smith will compete in a match race being dubbed the “Battle of the Exes” at Del Mar on Aug. 7.

Jockeys Mike Smith and Chantal Sutherland, who were once engaged, will compete in a match race at Del Mar on Aug. 7, the track announced Thursday.

Nicknamed the “Battle of the Exes,” the match race will be the first at Del Mar since Patrick Valenzuela beat Julie Krone by a nose in a 2003 race. The Smith-Sutherland match race will be part of Ladies Day at Del Mar and will be run over a mile or 1 1/16 miles.

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 17:01

Los Alamitos: Fixin to Fly, Ima Chickie Too favored

Fixin to Fly and Ima Chickie Too, second and eighth in the Kindergarten Futurity on May 22, are among the 76 horses entered for nine divisions of the Governor's Cup Futurity trials at Los Alamitos on Saturday evening.

The 10 fastest qualifiers, regardless of finishing positions, will advance to the $450,000 final on July 30, which is part of a lucrative night of stakes for California-bred Quarter Horses.

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 16:59

Retama Park: Flying Corona still out for stakes win

Fly Corona, the fastest qualifier from the July 2 trials, has drawn the rail for Saturday's $203,100 Retama Park Derby for 3-year-olds Saturday evening at the suburban San Antonio track.

The 400-yard Retama Park Derby could give the well-traveled Fly Corona his first stakes win in his 11th start. He finished second in the Dash For Cash Juvenile at Lone Star Park last October and a troubled ninth as the 9-5 favorite in the Remington Park Derby in Oklahoma on April 16.

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 16:29

Belmont: Pace could set up Mineralogist in Miss South Shore

ELMONT, N.Y. – The 56-day Belmont meet concludes Sunday, when the $60,000 Miss South Shore overnight stakes highlights a 10-race program.

Mineralogist, the champion New York-bred juvenile filly of 2009 who missed her entire 3-year-old season, is the 2-1 morning-line choice over four rival fillies and mares in the one-mile race. After winning sloppy renewals of the Joseph A. Gimma and the Maid of the Mist for John Kimmel in 2009, she underwent knee surgery and later suffered a puncture wound of the same knee that led to an infection and an extended course of antibiotics.

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 16:14

Calder: Big Drama gearing up for return, heading back to track

Justin N. Lane
Big Drama will join David Fawkes's barn at Calder next week to begin work toward a defense of his Breeders' Cup Sprint title.

MIAMI – Trainer David Fawkes is on the road for Saratoga this weekend, where he’ll spend most of the summer overseeing the 28 horses he’ll have stabled at the Spa during the upcoming meet. But the first stop Fawkes made on the way up to New York was in Ocala on Friday morning to visit an old friend, Big Drama, the reigning Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Eclipse Award winner who has spent the last several months at the farm of his owner-breeder, Harold Queen.

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 16:11

Borel picks Ellis over Saratoga as his summer base

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Having won over 4,800 races, including three of the last five Kentucky Derbies, jockey Calvin Borel has the credentials to ride at the prestigious Saratoga meet that begins July 22.

He is just choosing not to be there − not on a daily basis, anyway. Rather, Borel is content to spend his summer at his home in Louisville with his wife, Lisa. He will ride most often at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., and pursue lucrative out-of-town stakes mounts when they arise.

Fri, 07/15/2011 - 16:09

Arlington Park: Cape Blanco looks like a Million starter

Barbara D. Livingston
Cape Blanco, with Jamie Spencer up, wins the Man o' War.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – News updates do not exactly come flying out of Ballydoyle, trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Irish home base, but it seems fairly certain at this point that Cape Blanco, a solid winner of the Man o’ War at Belmont on July 9, will return to the United States for a start in the Aug. 13 Arlington Million.