Fri, 11/19/2010 - 14:21

Zenyatta parade set for Dec. 5 at Hollywood Park

Benoit & Associates
Zenyatta will be in the barn of trainer John Shirreffs until she travels to Kentucky in December.

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.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 14:00

Speightful Lady comes in off strong showing on Breeders' Cup Day

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.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 13:58

Trails offer final two spots for Champion of Champions

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On Thursday, Los Alamitos issued a statement saying that Double Down Special had been withdrawn from the Champion of Champions because of a respiratory infection.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.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 13:22

Calder cuts purses, eliminates a stakes

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.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 13:21

Desormeaux, McGee reunite for Clark with Demarcation

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kent Desormeaux was 18 and barely two years into his Hall of Fame riding career when he ventured outside his Maryland base to win the 1988 Clark Handicap aboard a former claimer named Balthazar B., trained by a 26-year-old Paul McGee.

Twenty-two years later, Desormeaux and McGee are set to team again with Demarcation in the $500,000 Clark, a Grade 1 race to be run Friday for the 136th time at Churchill Downs.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 13:13

Bank Heist, Rule by Night ensure hot pace for Groovy

Barbara Weidl/EQUI-PHOTO
Rule by Night, narrowly beaten by Bank Merger in the Gallant Bob Handicap, is one of the prime contenders in Sunday's Groovy for 3-year-old sprinters.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A pair of $60,000 overnight stakes for 3-year-olds, one on dirt, one scheduled for turf, highlight Sunday’s program at Aqueduct.

The seven-furlong Groovy drew a field of seven, all but one of whom recorded a Beyer Figure of 90 or better in one of his last two starts.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 12:56

Indian Apple Is looks to solidify Sovereign credentials in Bessarabian

Michael Burns
Indian Apple Is, winning the Sweet Briar Too in July, can solidify her credentials as Canada's leading female sprinter by winning Sunday's Bessarabian.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Indian Apple Is will try to nail down the Sovereign Award for this year’s Canadian champion female sprinter at Woodbine Racetrack on Sunday in the $150,000 Bessarabian Stakes. The seven-furlong sprint has lured 12 others, including the U.S. shippers Waccamaw, Hooh Why, Ariana D, Sweet Lorena, and Meriwether Jessica.

Indian Apple Is has won 3 of 6 starts and slightly more than $300,000 this year. She captured the seven-furlong Sweet Briar Too Stakes on July 1, and was idle for two months before ending up second in the Grade 3 Seaway Stakes.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 12:50

Jordan hopeful La Rocca can outrun her odds in Bessarabian

Four-Footed Fotos
La Rocca, winning last year's British Columbia Oaks at Hastings, will try to regain her good form in Sunday's Bessarabian.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Terry Jordan stable will be looking to wind up its 2010 meeting at Woodbine Racetrack with a bang on Sunday, with horses entered in three of the 11 races on the program.

Bijoux Bon, in the first race, and Shining for Us, in the eighth, both are morning-line favorites in maiden events.

But the piece de resistance would be a victory by La Rocca, who has been tabbed as a 20-1 chance in the $150,000 Bessarabian Stakes for fillies and mares at seven furlongs.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 12:21

Stage Trick brings strong form to Honey Bee Stakes

Stage Trick, who has run much better out of town than she has at Monmouth Park, will attempt to transfer her good recent form to the Jersey Shore when she meets eight other fillies and mares in Sunday’s closing-day feature, the $70,000 Honey Bee Stakes.

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 11:47

Claiming Crown likely to move to Fair Grounds, be held in December

The 2011 Claiming Crown is unlikely to be held in the summer at its customary site, Canterbury Park in suburban Minneapolis, but instead could move to late fall at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

Fair Grounds vice president and general manager Eric Halstrom said Friday that the Churchill Downs Inc.-owned track and the Louisiana division of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association “essentially have agreed that we’d like to host the Claiming Crown next year, barring something unforeseen occurring. We hope to be making that announcement in early December.”