Officials at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., announced Friday that the purse for the 2011 Kentucky Oaks has been doubled to $1 million-guaranteed – making it the richest North American race for 3-year-old fillies – while also releasing the balance of the stakes schedule for the 2011 spring meet.
As usual, the $2 million Kentucky Derby will be the centerpiece of the meet. The 137th running of the Derby is set for May 7, when five other stakes will be run.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. − Win Willy puts a lot into his training, and his aggressive style might serve him well Sunday, when he faces six others in the $75,000 Fifth Season at Oaklawn Park.
A 1 1/16-mile race, the Fifth Season was carded as Friday’s season opener in Hot Springs, but freezing temperatures forced the cancellation of that program as well as five consecutive mornings of training at Oaklawn.
OZONE PARK, N.Y.– Visiting the Aqueduct winner’s circle this winter has become a habit for trainer Linda White.
White, a longtime assistant to former New York Racing Association circuit kingpin Gasper Moschera, is 3 for 6 this winter at Aqueduct, her most recent victory coming with R Betty Graybull in Thursday’s $60,000 Leecoo Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares.
Not bad for a trainer with just six horses and who this time last year was an assistant trainer, working with a fringe Kentucky Derby prospect while basking in the sunshine on the West Coast of Florida.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. − Quiet Giant lived up to her 1-2 odds when she overpowered her five rivals in winning the $60,000 Cheap Seats Stakes by 8 3/4 lengths going a mile over Aqueduct’s inner track last month.
The competition gets only slightly tougher Sunday, when Quiet Giant meets four opponents in the $60,000 Lady on the Run Stakes, also scheduled for one mile over the inner track. The Lady on the Run takes the place of the $65,000 Affectionately Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares that did not attract enough entries to be carded.
A relatively unaccomplished 3-year-old division at Turfway this winter became thinner this week, when Turfway Prevue winner Inhisglory was shipped to New Orleans to join the Fair Grounds barn of trainer Mike Stidham.
Stidham is one of two principal trainers for owner Peter Redekop, who purchased Inhisglory shortly before the horse won the Turfway Prevue on Jan. 8.
Wayne Mogge trained Inhisglory to win the Prevue and had owned him in partnership before the sale.
The featured sixth race Sunday at Fair Grounds hardly could be more of a hodgepodge, with all sorts of horses showing form from all over the place.
Ten were entered in this high-end allowance also open to $50,000 claimers and carded for about 7 1/2 furlongs on turf. Sunday’s sixth is one of three open allowance races on a fairly appealing card. Race 8 is an entry-level sprint allowance for 3-year-old fillies, while the ninth is a second-level turf allowance with a $40,000 claiming option.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Some of the old-timers still at Tampa Bay Downs were here when the track was called Florida Downs. “Even heard a lot of stories from when it was Sunshine Park,” said Ernie Mello, who still trains a three-horse stable out of Barn 5.
Those were the days of Tampa often being derided as a non-factor on the North American racing scene. “I had two or three jobs at a time because there just wasn’t any money here,” said Mello, 78. “Everybody did. Had to.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Oaklawn Park officials are hopeful the racing surface, which has been closed since Monday due to freezing temperatures, will be reopened for training Friday afternoon. The track was forced to cancel Friday’s opening day card, but are confident they will race on Saturday.
“We’re a 100 percent go for Saturday,” said David Longinotti, assistant general manager of racing for Oaklawn. “There’s not a weather forecast that I’ve seen that causes me any concern.”
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr. won with five of her six mounts Thursday at Tampa Bay Downs, tying a personal record while also tying a track record for second-most wins on a card.
Homeister, 38, won the second race with Daddy’s Honor ($3.20), then was out of the money in the fourth race aboard Hudson Bay. She then reeled off four straight victories with Fire Cloud ($15) in the fifth, Round Trip Loner ($6.20) in the sixth, Mr. Ryder ($10) in the seventh, and He’s Appealing ($24.20) in the eighth. She did not have a mount in the last two races of the day.
