Sat, 02/19/2011 - 14:10

Training lull at Santa Anita gives time to reflect

ARCADIA, Calif. – Main-track training was canceled at Santa Anita on Saturday morning, a casualty of rain that fell from Friday afternoon until the early hours of Saturday. A quiet morning gave trainers a chance to reflect on leading horses who worked on Friday, and plans for them in coming weeks.

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 13:49

Aqueduct cancels due to high winds

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The final seven races on Aqueduct's Saturday card were canceled after the jockeys expressed safety concerns because of high winds. According to weather.com, the winds around nearby JFK Airport were 31 miles per hour, gusting to 44 miles per hour.

Jockey David Cohen, who rode all three races, said the wind got progressively stronger from the first to the third race.

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 13:41

Laysh Laysh Laysh seeks to continue rags-to-riches saga in General George

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
Laysh Laysh Laysh is among a trio of horses trainer Rick Dutrow has entered for Saturday's Carter Handicap.

In a span of five days last month, Laysh Laysh Laysh went from claimer to stakes winner. Monday, Laysh Laysh Laysh will try to become a graded stakes winner when he faces a full field of sprinters in a seemingly wide-open running of the Grade 2, $150,000 General George Handicap at Laurel Park.

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 13:34

Evening Jewel switches to turf for the Buena Vista at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – Evening Jewel’s win in the Sunshine Millions Distaff provided trainer Jim Cassidy with a sense of relief.

The race ended a three-race losing streak, and ended a brief concern that Evening Jewel was not as sharp as her 2010 form, when she won four stakes and was recognized as the California-bred horse of the year.

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 13:17

Cloneylass out to turn tables at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. - With luck, Cloneylass would have won her first stakes in the Sweet Life Stakes at Santa Anita last month.

Ridden from off the pace by jockey Corey Nakatani, she was in trouble through the final sixteenth, hampered by a loose horse, and lost by a half-length to pacesetter Bloemer Girl. A chance for revenge arrives in Monday’s $100,000 La Habra Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over the same about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course as the Sweet Life.

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 13:15

Take your pick of Steve Margolis's horses at Fair Grounds

NEW ORLEANS – As good as trainer Steve Margolis’s 2009-2010 Fair Grounds meet was – and it was good, 29 percent wins good – the 2010-2011 season in New Orleans is coming up even rosier. After only 69 starters, Margolis is two winners away from the 24 victories he notched all last season. His horses are winning at a 31-percent clip, and bettors surely have noticed that a win bet on every single Margolis horse this Fair Grounds meet would have produced a return-on-investment of $2.20.

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 13:11

Tomcat Jake rises from humble beginning to make Oregon Derby

PORTLAND, Ore. – Tomcat Jake has been a pleasant surprise for retired dentist turned trainer Ryland Harwood.
Tomcat Jake, a Seattle Shamus homebred, could give Harwood the biggest win of his career Monday when he takes on four rivals in the $35,000 Oregon Thoroughbred Breeders Derby at Portland Meadows.

Tomcat Jake was supplemented to the derby, just as he was to the Bill Wineburg on Dec. 12. he finished second in the Wineburg, splitting Shamundi and Midda’s Gold Touch, two of his rivals in Monday’s one-mile race.

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 12:55

High winds force Penn National, Parx to cancel

Extremely high winds in the mid-Atlantic region, with gusts exceeding 50 miles per hour, forced officials at Parx Racing in suburban Philadelphia and Penn National Race Course near Harrisburg, Pa., to cancel live racing on Saturday.

Parx is scheduled to resume racing at 12:25 p.m. Sunday. Penn National's next live card will be 5 p.m. Monday.
 

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 12:42

Driven by Solar holding down home front in Hollie Hughes at Aqueduct

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – With his more heralded stablemate headed to Maryland for the Grade 2 General George Handicap, Driven by Solar will carry the banner for owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher in Monday’s $65,000 Hollie Hughes Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct.

And while Driven by Success is a three-time stakes winner and earner of more than $541,719, Driven by Solar may actually have been the stronger half of the entry.

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 11:13

Coa undergoing lengthy surgery to stabilize neck injury following Gulfstream Park spill

Barbara D. Livingston
Eibar Coa has a fractured C-4 vertebra in his neck following a Friday spill at Gulfstream.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Jockey Eibar Coa went into surgery at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla., to repair and stabilize injuries he suffered in a riding mishap that took place shortly after the field crossed the finish line in Friday’s sixth race at Gulfstream Park.