ALBANY, Calif. – Jockey Michael Martinez, paralyzed from the waist down in a Sept. 12 fall at Golden Gate Fields, was discharged from the Santa Clara Valley Rehabilitation Center in San Jose on Friday.
Martinez’s agent Dennis Patterson, who has been with the injured rider daily since his spill, picked him up and drove him to his home in San Pablo near the Golden Gate Fields racetrack.
Off his breeding, El Kingdom would appear to be a better horse on grass than dirt, being by El Prado out of the Dynaformer mare Rabiadella and a half-brother to the graded turf stakes winner Diadella. But thus far that has not been the case.
Jockey Chin Yang, 43, registered his 1,000th career win at Finger Lakes on Friday when he guided 14-1 longshot Confided to a gate-to-wire in the sixth race.
A native of Bangkok, Thailand, Yang began his career in 1989 at River Downs, and has been a Finger Lakes regular since 2003. Of his 1,000 wins, 403 have come at Finger Lakes.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Victor’s Cry won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile here in May in a career-defining win. Unfortunately for owners Bob and Michele Billings and trainer Eoin Harty, Victor’s Cry’s three subsequent starts have been less satisfying.
After a decent second in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar, Victor’s Cry was ninth in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile and fifth in the Grade 2 Oak Tree Mile at Hollywood Park last month. Those results will make him an outsider in an ultra-competitive running of the $250,000 Citation Handicap on turf next Saturday.
Churchill announced Friday that overnight purses for the final eight days are being bumped 20 percent, marking the second increase in a week.
The track increased purses by an average 6.3 percent on Nov. 12. The hikes are being attributed to higher than projected wagering from all sources since the 21-day meet began Oct. 31.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Expectations are sky-high for 2-year-old filly Turbulent Descent, a potential star that makes her second career start Sunday in the $100,000 Moccasin Stakes at Hollywood Park.
Based on a deceptively easy debut victory, Turbulent Descent will be favored over Zazu and four others in the seven-furlong stakes. If Turbulent Descent repeats her crushing debut, the Moccasin could be history.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Zenyatta was jogged and galloped 1 1/2 miles on Hollywood Park’s training track on Friday, and she will be paraded at the track on a day in her honor on Dec. 5.
Friday’s type of exercise is expected to be the maximum she will be asked to do occasionally until early December, when she is scheduled to be shipped to Kentucky.
Earlier this week, Lane’s End Farm in Versailles. Ky., announced that owners Jerry and Ann Moss will keep the popular 6-year-old mare at that farm. Breeding plans have not been finalized.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Back-to-back first-level allowance races anchor a 10-race Sunday card that brings the race week to an end at Churchill Downs. There are no stars or standouts in either, but at least they’re well matched, with the program listing lukewarm favorites for both races.
Sunday’s two trials for the $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 11 have taken on greater significance in recent days.
On Thursday, Los Alamitos issued a statement saying that Double Down Special had been withdrawn from the Champion of Champions because of a respiratory infection. Double Down Special earned an automatic berth to the Champion of Champions with his victory in the All American Derby at Ruidoso Downs.
MIAMI -- Calder Race Course has announced both a purse reduction and a restructuring of the stakes schedule for the remainder of the Tropical at Calder meeting that includes the cancellation of a Grade 3 fixture on the local calendar. The 2010-11 Tropical meet runs through Jan. 4.
