ELMONT, N.Y. - Grand Couturier came out of a Thursday morning training session at Belmont Park with inflammation in his left front ankle and was not entered for Sunday’s $750,000 Northern Dancer Stakes at Woodbine.
Trainer Robert Ribaudo said the ankle issue is something Grand Couturier has dealt with for a long time, but that the logistics of having to ship Thursday afternoon to Woodbine in order to be on the grounds by 10 a.m. Friday morning made it a prudent decision not to enter.
A fund to cover medical expenses has been established for the 24-year-old jockey Michael Martinez, who suffered a severed spinal cord in a spill at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday.
Martinez, who is paralyzed from the waist down, remained in critical but stable condition mid-week at Highland Hospital in Oakland.
Checks should be made out to Michael Martinez Fund and sent to Golden Gate Fields, 1100 Eastshore Highway, Berkeley, CA 94710.
George Berthold should be a familiar name to longtime Thistledown fans as well as students of local racing history.
Berthold, who saddled winners Saturday and Monday, trained the 1968 Ohio Derby winner Te Vega, the first Ohio-bred to win the state’s most prestigious race.
Both of Berthold’s recent winners, Frankly Scarlett on Saturday and Teakoa on Monday, are owned and were bred by his wife, Gayle.
Stone E Motion heads a field of six Quarter Horses going 870 yards in Saturday’s $25,000 Covered Bridges Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
The 5-year-old Stone E Motion has shown marked improvement since having his sciatic nerve treated in January, when he was running for a $5,000 claiming tag at Hialeah. Since returning in March, Stone E Motion reeled off four straight wins at Remington Park, including three Grade 3 stakes.
Lone Star Park near Dallas begins what might be its final meet under the ownership of MI Developments on Friday night, when it puts on a 10-race card for Quarter Horses highlighted by the $25,000 Classic Chevrolet Heartbeat of America Handicap.
The track will race 26 nights through Nov. 13.
Global Gaming has purchased the operating assets of Lone Star from MI Developments for $47 million, and is now awaiting license approvals from the Texas Racing Commission.
After a successful summer at Saratoga, trainer Tom Proctor hope to continue his momentum at Belmont Park on Saturday when he runs two horses in the Grade 1, $250,000 Garden City Breeders’ Cup for 3-year-old fillies.
Proctor entered both the front-running Queen of the Creek and the late-running Snow Top Mountain in the 1 1/8-mile turf race, which drew a field of eight Both fillies will be stretching out to nine furlongs after competing in one-mile races at Saratoga.
ELMONT, N.Y. – It isn’t often the best – and richest – race of the day is carded as the opener, but such is the case Friday at Belmont Park when eight 3-year-olds are scheduled to run in the $60,000 Fifth Marine Stakes at a mile over the Widener Turf Course.
The Fifth Marine is one of two overnight stakes on the program. The $60,000 Salute Me Sir for New York-breds on dirt, drew a field of five and will be run as the third race.
ELMONT, N.Y. – A six-day delay in the carding of the $60,000 Salute Me Sir Stakes may have worked out just fine for trainer Richard Schosberg and his 5-year-old Giant Moon. Initially scheduled to be run last Saturday, the race is now being run as the third race on Friday’s nine-race card.
AUBURN, Wash. – September is Tim McCanna’s time of year. The low-key trainer has all but secured his 10th championship in Emerald Downs’ 15-year history, and with seven racing days remaining, is closing in on a new record for victories in a single season.
After a slow start to the 90-day meeting, McCanna has been rolling, winning with 14 of his 51 starters over the past 11 racing days. He holds a comfortable 62-51 lead over Vann Belvoir and needs five victories to break the single-season record he set in 2008, when he saddled 66 winners.