HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Ian Wilkes sounded far away when reached by phone on Friday to talk about Grade 1 winner Capt. Candyman Can’s appearance in Sunday’s $67,400 Sir Shackleton Handicap. And in fact he was.
Wilkes is presently in his native Australia visiting family with his wife Tracey. His mentor, trainer Carl Nafzger, will saddle Capt. Candyman Can on Sunday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Although five of the six 3-year-old New York-bred fillies in Sunday’s $60,000 Love Is Eternal overnight stakes are eligible for first-level allowance conditions, they’ve shown ability from top to bottom, having won or placed in 16 of 19 collective sprints.
Midnight Visit and Gambling Geraldine, uncoupled Todd Pletcher-trained fillies that appear loaded with potential, are likely to vie for favoritism in the six-furlong stakes.
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Amazombie will get dirty Sunday at Santa Anita, and that is a good thing.
“He’s better on dirt,” trainer Bill Spawr said. “I think he’ll run on anything, but Mike [Smith, his jockey] likes him better on dirt.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Biofuel, who was perfect in her four stakes starts here at Woodbine Racetrack last year and placed in Grade 1 stakes in two appearances in New York, was honored as Canada’s 2010 Horse of the Year at the Sovereign Awards ceremony on Friday evening.
A crowd of 350 was on hand as the 36th annual Sovereign Awards ceremony was held at Woodbine for the first time since 1996 and was moved to the April 1 date by the Jockey Club of Canada.
Trainer Neil Howard and owner Donald Adam lost one Triple Crown hopeful during closing weekend at Fair Grounds, but on the same day the pair appeared to gain another.
Machen finished fifth in the Louisiana Derby, running the same kind of race – good middle move, no late punch – he had in the Risen Star Stakes. Those two-turn results have strongly suggested to Machen’s connections that he’s a better horse at shorter distances, and Machen’s upcoming schedule will be adjusted accordingly.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – It’s been more than 30 years since trainer Mac Benson first made his presence felt here, when he worked as a private trainer for the famed Windfields Farm and won the Queen’s Plate with Regal Embrace in 1978.
While he has managed a slew of champions and stakes winners in the years since, Benson headed south this winter without his usual plans to train at Payson Park, and he will be present here at Woodbine Racetrack only on rare occasions this season.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –Todd Pletcher has 13 horses entered in the 12 races run on Sunday’s Florida Derby Day card at Gulfstream Park. The shortest price of the baker’s dozen could very well be Travelin Man in the Grade 2, $150,000 Swale Stakes for 3-year-olds.
When Flashpoint – who defeated Travelin Man by 7 1/4 lengths in the Grade 2 Hutcheson here on Feb. 26 – entered Sunday’s $1 million Florida Derby Travelin Man became the prohibitive favorite for the Swale, run at seven furlongs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – After hibernating all winter, the bears are back at Woodbine. Two of them have surfaced in Sunday’s co-featured second race, the Reade Baker-trained entry of Bear Chocolated and Bear No Joke. The duo should be favored in the five-furlong allowance for 3-year-olds. Both are owned by the Bear Stables of Danny Dion, who frequently uses his nickname “Bear” in the naming of his horses.
Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course, and its off-track betting facilities lost approximately $6.9 million during the last eight months of 2010, according to financial statements released by the track’s parent company on Friday.
The net loss was an improvement over a combined loss of $14 million from the operations for the full year of 2009, according to unaudited statements that the parent company, the Maryland Jockey Club, released two weeks ago. The Maryland Jockey Club is a partnership of MI Developments Inc. and Penn National Gaming Inc.
