Trainer Henry Dominguez got a great deal when he went “shopping” through Del Mar’s claim box this past summer. He took Imco Spirit for $12,500, and by December the horse had won two allowances and the $200,000 Zia Park Distance Championship back home in New Mexico.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Battle of Hastings and Get Stormy were assigned posts 1 and 2 as the likely favorites in a field of 12 older horses that will clash Sunday in the Fort Lauderdale Handicap, the first of back-to-back Grade 3, $100,000 stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Battle of Hastings comes off a victory in the Nov. 4 River City Handicap at Churchill Downs, while Get Stormy is a six-time stakes winner making his first start since finishing well back of Goldikova in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Mile.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Moonlit Malibu is facing winners and trying two turns for the first time in Saturday’s $65,000 Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct, she has shown enough promise where she just may be the right one in the seemingly wide-open race for 3-year-old fillies.
Five of the seven horses entered for the Busanda are coming off wins in their most recent starts, including Queen’s Harbor, who won the East View for New York-bred fillies over the inner track on Dec. 5.
Bluegrass Dreamer has the qualifications to win Saturday’s $50,000 Turfway Prevue for 3-year-olds at Turfway Park, having won a maiden race at Woodbine and having been sixth there in the $152,000 Display Stakes in his last start Nov. 28. He has the pedigree, too, being a son of Grade 1 Haskell winner Bluegrass Cat and a half-brother to a pair of European group winners, including Dr. Fong, winner of the prestigious Group 1 St. James’s Palace at Ascot.
Louisiana Downs will open its Quarter Horse meet Saturday with some new wagering options. The track will offer 50-cent trifectas and pick fours for the first time during the 46-date season.
“We’ve been trying some new initiatives here, and that’s one of them,” said Trent McIntosh, director of racing operations for Louisiana Downs. “Similar to a penny slot machine on the casino floor, the 50-cent bets provide the customer with greater value. It gives them more combinations, more chances to win.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It has been well documented that 2010 was a successful but frustrating year for trainer Nick Zito, a season of near- misses in major stakes that culminated with Morning Line’s heart-breaking defeat at the hands of Dakota Phone in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Opening day at the 2011 Gulfstream Park meet couldn’t have gone a whole lot better for Wesley Ward. Not only did the 42-year-old trainer take the Grade 3 Old Hat Stakes with the rapid filly Final Mesa, but he also sent out a first-time starter named Gazillion Kisses to win in a field full of highly touted maiden fillies.
But that was Wednesday, and this is Saturday, when Ward is looking for further success when he saddles Gangsterontherun for the $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes at Gulfstream.
Beulah Park in Grove City, Ohio, will begin a 66-day meet Saturday with its backstretch quarantined following the December deaths of several horses who later tested positive for the equine herpesvirus.
Two horses in Barn 24 died on Dec. 24, and they later tested positive for equine herpesvirus, a contagious disease that primarily affects a horse’s respiratory system. Another horse eventually died from the disease in the same barn.
Horses are not currently allowed to leave the grounds at Beulah and any horses that ship in must stay until after the quarantine is lifted.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Aggie Engineer was able to control a slow pace when leading from start to finish in last month’s Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park, but his trainer, Paddy Gallagher, knows the chances are remote of a similar scenario unfolding on Saturday in the Grade 2, $150,000 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Friday’s nine race program at Tampa Bay Downs was cancelled after an internal broadcast issue prevented Tampa Bay Downs from sending its sumulcast signal to outlets throughout North America.
Post time for the first race, originally slated for 12:25 p.m., was pushed back to 1 p.m. as members of Sportview T.V., the communications provider for Tampa, worked to fix the problem, but those efforts failed and the decision to cancel the program was made shortly before 1 p.m.
