There are five stakes on the final weekend of the spring-summer meeting at Hollywood Park, a list led by the $250,000 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies over 1 1/4 miles on turf Saturday.
Stakes winners Bizzy Caroline, Cambina, and Star Billing are the leading contenders. Bizzy Caroline won the Grade 3 Regret Stakes at Churchill Downs last month. Star Billing, the winner of the Senorita Stakes here in May; and Cambina, the winner of three stakes at Santa Anita earlier this year, were second and third in the Grade 2 Honeymoon Handicap here last month.
SHAKOPEE, MN – Given a favorable ruling or a legislative resolution of the Minnesota budget stalemate, the rescheduled Minnesota HBPA Mile will be run at Canterbury Park on Sunday. As of mid-afternoon Friday, no ruling had been made, and Saturday’s race card had been canceled.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas − Global Gaming Solutions, which took over ownership of Lone Star Park in May, will jump into a series of projects designed to improve the track’s facilities and enhance its operations once the meet closes Sunday.
“We’ll spend millions before the end of this calendar,” said John Elliott, the 53-year-old chief executive officer of Global and a native of Australia.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Bay to Bay seemed to benefit from some give in the ground when she captured the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes, and it will be interesting to see how she’ll handle a much harder turf course Sunday at Woodbine in the Grade 2, $300,000 Dance Smartly Stakes.
Bay to Bay, a 4-year-old trained by Brian Lynch, won the Grade 3 Natalma Stakes at 2, and the American 1000 Guineas as a 3-year-old at Arlington. She ran twice this year at Gulfstream, finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Honey Fox and second in a demanding optional claimer.
MIAMI – Trainer Michael Yates will be hoping the rain finally holds off long enough this weekend for the turf course to reopen for Sunday’s $31,800 allowance feature. His Tripski, who is winless on dirt but undefeated in three starts on grass,will be tough if the race stays on the turf.
AUBURN, Wash. − Noosa Beach took the track Thursday morning for a four-furlong maintenance work, the latest step in an unfolding saga that could land the king of Emerald Downs on North American racing’s biggest stage – the Breeders’ Cup in November.
Victorious in 9 of his last 10 starts, all stakes, Noosa Beach was timed in 49.20 seconds under regular rider Gallyn Mitchell. Trainer Doris Harwood said the workout went mostly according to script, though Noosa Beach had to pull up and then restart to avoid a loose horse in the stretch.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Belle Watling arrived from Chile with a glittering reputation
She hasn’t lived up to the advanced hype, going winless in five races in the U.S. this year in the care of Patrick Biancone.
Following a disappointing ninth last weekend in the 1 3/8-mile, Grade 1 United Nations Stakes with Edgar Prado aboard, Belle Watling underwent a myectomy on Wednesday, a relatively minor procedure to improve air flow.
“She just did not run,” Biancone said. “The jockey said she choked. It should help her.”
Santa Anita will begin a renovation of its main track Monday to reduce clay content and add sand, a project expected to take at least 10 days and cause some disruption to training on the circuit.
The project has been planned for months after studies conducted on the main track during the winter-spring meeting found the combination of sand, silt, and clay to be different than what was recommended when the track was installed last fall.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Jockey Ismael Mosqueira was hoping the lessons he learned over the winter riding at Calder and Gulfstream would help him get off to a strong start at Hastings this year. His plans went awry when he stopped off at Emerald Downs to visit a friend on his way to Vancouver.
“I went to visit a few trainers I know and I was standing around and got kicked by a horse and fractured my elbow,” said Mosqueira. “I’ve been back riding for four weeks and I’m feeling a hundred percent now.”
