ETOBICOKE, Ontario – It’s been a long time coming, but Quincy Welch has left western Canada and moved his tack east to Woodbine.
“I had the opportunity to come here last year, but I decided not to,” said Welch, who has hooked up with agent Tom Patton. “I decided to try it this year.”
The 32-year-old Welch, who was born in the Barbados, rode there and elsewhere in the Caribbean for year or so before moving to Alberta in 1997.
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KENTUCKY OAKS DAY: Past performances, video, and race previews for Friday's full card
AUBURN, Wash. – Praise a Native, an impressive winner on opening night, and Gdanz Xpress, stakes-placed twice in 2010, headline Friday’s feature race at Emerald Downs.
A $25,000 claimer for 3-year-olds who have never won two races, the 5 1/2-furlong feature attracted five entrants. Gdanz Xpress, making his first start in eight months, will break from the inside post position. Praise a Native, who posted a field-best Beyer Speed Figure in his victory April 15, will break from the outside. In between are Carr Creek, Landed On the Moon, and Topper’s Trooper.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockey Kent Desormeaux said that when he crossed under the wire to win the Kentucky Derby aboard Real Quiet in 1998 “my life flashed before my eyes.”
Jon Court hasn’t even ridden in his first Kentucky Derby, and his life is already flashing before his eyes. Court, 50, has spent a whole lot of time reviewing his life and 30-year career as a jockey as he has prepared to make his Derby debut Saturday at Churchill Downs aboard Archarcharch for his father-in-law, trainer William “Jinks” Fires.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – On the main floor of the Arlington Park grandstand there’s a photo showing the rubble of recently burned-down Arlington captioned, “Quit? Hell no.” Arlington chairman Dick Duchossois referenced both photo and slogan last week. There has been no particular disaster like the 1985 fire, but Chicago racing has issues. Purses are stagnant and lag behind those in neighboring states. Average daily handle at the 2010 Arlington meet dropped 27 percent from 2009. Arlington exists under the Churchill Downs Inc.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fine performances of one-two finishers Unrivaled Belle and Blind Luck in the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic – followed by the retirement of Horse of The Year Zenyatta – seemingly pointed toward their dominance in the filly and mare ranks this year.
AUBURN, Wash. – With the season’s first stakes race for fillies and mares here at Emerald Downs fast approaching, trainer Jim Penney has some whittling to do. Penney and his team have five legitimate contenders for the May 15 Hastings Handicap, an unwieldy and impractical number to be sure. No trainer has ever started five horses in a race at Emerald Downs. Only one trainer has ever started four. Penney, a member of the Washington racing Hall of Fame, has made a lot of history in his 57 years as a trainer. He could make a little more next Sunday.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For a Grade 3 event, Friday’s $300,000 Alysheba came up a pretty tough spot. Anybody who doesn’t agree with that assessment need only ask trainer Chris Block, who will send out the likely favorite, two-time Grade 1 winner Giant Oak.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A group of 3-year-olds who did not make it to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby have been on trainer Bob Baffert’s mind this week.
On Wednesday, Jaycito, who was taken out of consideration for the Kentucky Derby because of foot problems in late April, returned to racetrack training. He is a candidate for the Belmont Stakes on June 11, Baffert said.
