HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jockey Michael Baze has been fined $500 by the Oaklawn Park board of stewards for failing a breathalyzer test on Friday. He was taken off all his Friday mounts. The ruling was issued on Saturday.
Jay Fedor, who is Baze’s agent, said neither he nor Baze had a comment.
Baze is scheduled to ride at Oaklawn on Saturday, among his mounts is Rigoletta in the Grade 3, $125,000 Honeybee Stakes and It Happened Again in the Grade 3, $125,000 Razorback Handicap.
As of Saturday, March 12, when the grassy Grindstone Stakes was scheduled to be contested, Fair Grounds hadn’t run a turf race since Feb. 28, but a sustained spell of dry weather has turned the turf course viable again, and Monday’s featured eighth race stands a good chance of actually staying on grass.
Of all the distress cries heard throughout Illinois racing – and there are plenty right now – the most plaintive come from Fairmount Park. Fairmount has cut fat and trimmed excess for years, and the track opens its doors for a 2011 racing season Tuesday still hoping for some kind of financial lifeline.
A step in the direction of the Kentucky Oaks is what trainer Mark Casse is seeking Monday at the annual Day of Champions in Ocala, Fla. Casse will send out Delightful Mary and Silent Moon, both owned by John Oxley, in the filly division of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Championship.
“Hopefully they’ll both run well, and we can really start thinking about having three fillies in the Oaks for Mr. Oxley,” said Casse
ARCADIA, Calif.– With division leaders Bourbon Bay and Champ Pegasus jetting off to Dubai for the $5 million Sheema Classic on March 26, Haimish Hy will be favored in Sunday’s $150,000 San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita.
Bourbon Bay and Champ Pegasus were first and second in the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes in January, an order that was reversed in the Grade 2 San Luis Obispo Stakes in February. Haimish Hy made his 2011 turf debut in the San Luis Obispo, a 1 1/2-mile turf race, and was beaten 3 1/4 lengths by Champ Pegasus, closing from ninth in the final quarter-mile.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Uncle Mo, the unbeaten divisional champion scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut Saturday in the Timely Writer Stakes at Gulfstream Park, was a lukewarm favorite at the close of business Friday, the first of three days of betting into Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - An assistant starter at Oaklawn Park sustained a head injury while attempting to load a horse for the start of Friday's eighth race. He was transported by ambulance to St. Joseph's Mercy Health Center in Hot Springs, Ark., according to Rolly Hoyt, a spokesman for Oaklawn. He was listed in stable condition Friday evening.
Hoyt said that the assistant starter, Ben Ewing, was momentarily unconscious after being injured, but regained consciousness before being loaded into the ambulance. Ewing, 55, is the father of Oaklawn outrider Chisum Ewing.
Fair Grounds announced purse increases for several stakes to be contested closing weekend of the ongoing meet, most notably a $100,000 hike in the Fair Grounds Oaks. The Grade 2 Oaks on March 26 was bumped from $400,000 to $500,000.
The other major race affected by the purse increase was the Mervin Muniz, which was raised from $350,000 to $400,000. The Muniz had been a $500,000 race before mid-meet purse cuts last season reduced it to $300,000.
Fluke, the winner of the Frank Kilroe Mile, is likely to start in the $300,000 Maker’s Mark Mile on turf at Keeneland on April 15, trainer Humberto Ascanio said.
Fluke won the Kilroe Mile by a head over Caracortado, another contender for the Maker’s Mark Mile. Fluke has won two stakes this year, including the Grade 3 Thunder Road Handicap on turf in February for owner Patricia Bozano.
“Right now, the Maker’s Mark Mile is the plan,” Ascanio said. “We’ll see how he trains. If everything is fine, he can go.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Uncle Brent, a 3-year-old who ran the fastest six furlongs of the Oaklawn Park meet when he won his debut in February, will make his first start at two turns Sunday in the 10th race. The entry-level allowance at a mile is one of two high-end offerings on the card. Sebastian County heads the ninth, a $50,000 optional claiming race at the same distance. The field also includes Cryptolight, an earner of more than $500,000.
