The long awaited new grandstand at Parx Racing, formerly Philadelphia Park, will be unveiled Friday afternoon during the Bensalem, Pa., track’s final Happy Hour program of the season. First post is 3 p.m. Eastern.
On the first floor, there are new seating areas, some equipped with personal handicapping desks, a sports bar, flat screen TVs, new food and beverage options, and easy paddock and apron access.
As a seven-time winner of the All American Futurity who qualified three horses for Monday's renewal of the Grade 1, $2 million race for Quarter Horses at Ruidoso Downs, jockey Jacky Martin's mount choice is a powerful handicapping tool. But his decision to ride Jls Mr Bigtime runs deeper than just the fact that the horse set the fastest qualifying time for the finale. Martin was responsible for the horse's initial training this past fall in Louisiana.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Tuscan Evening, winner of six stakes for turf females earlier this year, died after a workout on Aug. 8 from acute pulmonary hemorrhage, according to Dr. Rick Arthur, the equine medical director of the California Horse Racing Board.
Arthur said Wednesday that the diagnosis was made after a necropsy. He said such incidents are rare.
“We get a few each year, as many in training and racing,” he said. “This does happen.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A surprisingly large field of 11 was entered in Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Forego Stakes at Saratoga, and that was just fine with Ian Wilkes, trainer of Warrior’s Reward.
Before entries closed, Wilkes feared that far fewer horses than that would be entered, and that Vineyard Haven would wind up as the main speed in the race. But the entries of Checklist, Big Drama, Charitable Man and Omniscient should ensure a lively pace for the late-running Warrior’s Reward, who drew post 9.
DEL MAR, Calif. – It will cost $13,750 to supplement and start Rigoletta in Saturday’s $250,000 Darley Debutante at Del Mar.
Considering that owners Pavla and Erik Nygaard paid just $35,000 for Rigoletta at a 2-year-olds in training sale in April, the five-figure investment – a $10,000 supplemental fee and $3,750 in entry and starting fees – may be worth the gamble.
“We feel like it’s just tacking it on to her purchase price,” trainer Dan Hendricks said Wednesday.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – The Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 25 will likely be the next spot for Afleet Again following a fourth-place finish in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
“He came out of the race great,” trainer Butch Reid said on Wednesday. “He went back to the track this morning at Philadelphia Park. He galloped a strong mile and a quarter, and looked good doing it.”
The Travers was a solid bid, considering the big gray was hung wide around both turns. The rallying trip, with Cornelio Velasquez aboard, was exactly what Reid hoped for.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It will be blinkers on and Calvin Borel off Mine That Bird when the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner takes on Quality Road and five others in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.
Rajiv Maragh, who has worked Mine That Bird the last two weeks, will be aboard him Saturday from post 2. Quality Road, beaten a head by Blame in the Whitney at 1-2 odds here Aug. 7, drew post 3 and will be ridden by John Velazquez. As the conditions of the Woodward are weight for age, all horses will carry 126 pounds.
The tough economic times that have led Retama Park to reduce the length of its meet from 30 to 16 nights have also inspired the track to amp up the deals it will offer its customers. Retama will feature a reduced 12 percent takeout on both pick threes and doubles this meet, while admission to the track will be free every Saturday night as part of a promotion that also includes lower-priced concessions.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Hurricane Earl could be an unwelcome visitor at Monmouth Park for the start of the final weekend of the summer portion of the meet.
The storm bearing down on the East Coast could play havoc with Friday’s card, especially the two $82,000 co-features both scheduled on grass.
“Will we be on turf or mud? That’s the first question,” said trainer Tim Hills, who has runners in both races.
The two features are the long and the short versions of the same second-level $40,000 optional claimer for fillies and mares.
AUBURN, Wash. – Barring last-minute withdrawals, a total of 172 horses will be offered at auction Tuesday during the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association’s annual summer sale at the Morris J. Alhadeff Sales Pavilion adjacent to Emerald Downs.
In a departure from past years, when the event was limited to yearlings, the sale will include broodmares, weanlings, horses of racing age, and stallion shares, though most of the focus will be on a preferred group of 117 yearlings. The sale begins at 1 p.m. and is open to the public.