Chamberlain Bridge, who has yet to display the same form in three starts this season that carried him to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint last fall, looks to regroup over a turf course where he is unbeaten in two starts when he returns to suburban Philadelphia for Saturday’s inaugural running of the $200,000 Parx Dash Handicap at Parx Racing.
Penn National Racecourse in Grantville, Penn., will drop its Monday and Tuesday night programs and switch to a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule beginning in September, the track announced.
Penn added the Monday and Tuesday night programs at the start of this year in the hope of boosting its presence in the national full-card simulcast market. In a statement, the track’s vice president of racing, Mark Loewe, said that “the move didn’t generate the interest we had hoped for.”
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Majesticality will appreciate the move to a middle distance when he makes his second start of the year in a first-level optional $50,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up at Hastings on Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile feature drew seven horses and goes as race 7 on the eight-race card that begins at 3:20 p.m. Pacific. The change from the usual 1:20 post time is to attract fans that will be going to the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer game that begins at Empire Fields at 7 p.m.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Impossible Time, Canada’s champion older female of 2010, is scheduled to make her seasonal bow in Saturday’s $100,000 Zadracarta.
The Zadracarta, which goes over seven furlongs on turf, is an overnight stakes and attracted a rather surprisingly large field of 13 Ontario-foaled fillies.
And, the field also has one unofficial member, as Impossible Time was declared to be in foal to Speightstown about seven weeks ago and will be looking to add to her credentials before calling it a career late this summer.
Trainer Greg Tracy likes his chances in the $50,000 Western Handicap for 3-year-olds at Northlands Park on Saturday. He just isn’t sure which horse he prefers – Bond James Bond or Dollarwaitnonadime – in the six-furlong sprint that drew eight horses.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Ralph Biamonte won last Saturday’s Bold Ruckus Stakes with the steady Citius. He will try to keep the ball rolling this Saturday at Woodbine when he sends out Banner Bill in the $150,000 Victoria Stakes, a five-furlong dash for 2-year-olds.
Terry Wallace, who for the past 37 years has been the track announcer at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has retired from that position. Wallace plans to continue his affiliation with Oaklawn, which opens again in January, in other areas.
Churchill Downs announced Thursday morning that overnight purses are being increased 15 percent through the end of the meet, effective with that day’s card, marking the second time in two weeks for a purse hike at the Louisville, Ky., track. Purses already were increased by 10 percent on June 3.
Although tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. do not reveal attendance and handle figures except on most major race days, track officials attributed the purse increase to “higher than expected all-sources wagering levels.”
Lil Bit O'Fun went from last to first to win the $200,000 Oliver Stakes at Indiana Downs Wednesday evening.
Jockey Leandro Goncalves kept the 3-year-old son of Langfuhr at the rear of the 10-horse field for the first half-mile of the one-mile turf event. On the final turn, Lil Bit O'Fun was asked for run by Goncalves and he responded with a visually impressive move to overtake the field in upper stretch and wen on to prevail by a length and a quarter.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Buoyed by longshot Hooligan's Delight, Wednesday's pick-six at Belmont Park returned a healthy $308,963 to 11 bettors who were savvy enough to come up with the winning combination. None of the winning tickets was sold ontrack.
There were 995 consolation tickets (5 of 6), each returning $763.
