Kentucky Downs, a small racetrack in Franklin, Ky., near the border with Tennessee, will install 200 electronic gambling machines in its grandstand by the opening of its four-day race meet this year on Sept. 10, the track’s president, Corey Johnsen, said on Thursday.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin on Thursday denied a motion by Canterbury Park to reconsider her original ruling to keep the Minnesota Racing Commission closed during the ongoing state government shutdown. Without state stewards, veterinarians or other racing commission staff, Canterbury has not been able to race, simulcast, or operate its card room since the shutdown began July 1.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Right One will likely be regarded as the stronger half of trainer Christophe Clement’s uncoupled entry in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park. But stablemate Nordic Truce may have just as good a chance to win the last graded stakes event of this meeting at a better price.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Month by month through the spring, Bizzy Caroline’s stature rose in trainer Kenneth McPeek’s Kentucky stable. A filly who began the year as a maiden is now worthy of a cross-country trip for her first Grade 1 race in Saturday’s $250,000 American Oaks at Hollywood Park.
With three other horses in the lineup, including defending champion Life At Ten, it’s incorrect to label the Delaware Handicap a match race. Realistically, however, Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 stakes that serves as the crown jewel of Delaware Park’s season boils down to the latest chapter in a long-running rivalry between the sport’s two leading older females, the 4-year-old fillies Havre de Grace and Blind Luck.
Frank Mirahmadi will be the new announcer at Oaklawn Park when the Hot Springs, Ark., track begins its 2012 season on Jan. 13, according to a statement isuued by Oaklawn on Thursday. Terry Wallace, the Oaklawn announcer for the past 37 years, retired as the track’s race-caller last month.
Mirahmadi, 43, currently is the announcer for the Northern California fair circuit. He began his announcing career at Hollywood Park in 1992 and is well know for his impressions of other of other announcers and celebrities.
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A victory in any race with a $600,000 purse would be special. A victory in Saturday’s $600,000 Virginia Derby would likely rank as the highlight of trainer Phil Serpe’s 27-year training career.
A horse trained by Ken McPeek was euthanized Thursday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. after it got loose from its handlers, ran free onto a major road, and sustained a significant injury.
The horse, Daylasoul, was a 3-year-old filly owned and bred by Michael Harrison who had run four times, most recently finishing second in a $40,000 claiming race at Churchill Downs on July 1. She was scheduled to run at Saratoga on Aug. 1, according to McPeek.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine’ s runaway leading rider, Luis Contreras, doesn’t dole out the superlatives liberally, so when he speaks highly of Clement Rock, one should take notice. Clement Rock will try to remain unbeaten on the grass in Saturday’s $150,000 Toronto Cup Stakes and should be favored in the nine-furlong test for 3-year-olds.
Clement Rock never challenged over a sloppy track when he debuted at Fair Grounds in March. He was subsequently turned over to trainer Mark Casse, who sent him out to earn his diploma from off the pace on the lawn here June 10.
The owner of Yavapai Downs in Prescott, Ariz., has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, according to court filings, six weeks after the track canceled its summer meet.
The Yavapai County Farm and Agriculture Association, which owns the racetrack and operates a fair at the property, listed at least $10 million in liabilities in its bankruptcy filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona. The association is being represented in the filing by Randy Nussbaum, the filing said.
