DEL MAR, Calif. – It took Hog’s Hollow 15 starts before he finally broke through with a maiden win. His trainer, Paddy Gallagher, is hoping winning now becomes contagious.
Hog’s Hollow, who improved sharply with the addition of blinkers when he defeated maidens going 1 1/8 miles on turf at Hollywood Park on July 10, steps up to a first-level allowance and stretches out to 1 3/8 miles on turf for Thursday’s featured seventh race at Del Mar, which carries a purse of $57,000.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – There is a second-level Illinois-bred allowance race as well as an open entry-level allowance on the Thursday racing program at Arlington Park, but the most compelling horse on the card does not start in either one of those spots. It’s in race 2, a $5,000 starter allowance, that Party of Eight will try to add to an already amazing season.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – There already is a mare, the European horse Lady Digby, being aimed at the 2010 Arlington Million, even though there is a rich female-restricted grass race, the Beverly D., scheduled for the same day. The way Paddy O’Prado, a 3-year-old, has looked in his last two grass races, he also would not be out of his depth in the Aug. 21 Million, but his connections are sticking with the rich, restricted race scheduled for Million Day, the $400,000 Secretariat.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The field for the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, will be drawn Thursday.
But, unlike the Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales, there will be no fanfare for the Breeders’ as the draw will just be part of the normal race office routine for a Sunday program.
There is, in fact, seldom any buzz about the Breeders’ unless the 1 1/2-mile turf race involves a bid for the Triple Crown, which was the case when Wando was successful in 2003.
Arlington has scheduled a race for Friday, Aug. 20, the day before the Arlington Million, that will pit five retired jockeys against five current Arlington riders. Expected to ride in the race are Hall of Famers Earlie Fires and Gary Stevens, as well as Mark Guidry, Patti Cooksey, and Jean Cruguet.
The active jockey participants will be Junior Alvarado, Mike Baze, James Graham, Jesus Castanon, and Inez Karlsson.
All-sources handle on the first two full weeks of the Saratoga meet is down 4.7 percent, ontrack handle is down 11.7 percent and attendance is down 3.2 percent compared to 2009, according to figures released Monday by the New York Racing Association.
Since the comparison is for 12 days of racing, the figures NYRA has decided to use do not include this year’s opening day program while it does include last year’s opening day, which was a Wednesday. This year’s meet opened on a Friday, July 23.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Linda Rice hopes Monday’s last race at Saratoga was a harbinger for the rest of the meet.
Rice, who became the first woman to win a Saratoga trainer’s title last year, won Monday’s finale with the debuting 2-year-old Higher Desire. It was her seventh win from 20 starters through the first 16 days of racing. While that ties her for third in the standings with Bill Mott, she still has a lot of work to do to catch the loaded-for-bear Todd Pletcher, who has 13 wins from 54 starters. Chad Brown is 10 for 25 thus far.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Life At Ten, who looms Rachel Alexandra’s toughest hurdle in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 29, worked four furlongs in a modest 51.47 seconds Tuesday morning over a muddy Saratoga main track.
Under exercise rider Patti Barry, Life At Ten went her first quarter in 26.18 seconds and her second quarter in 25.29. She galloped out five furlongs in 1:05.52. The track was harrowed after the break after having been sealed along the inside paths before the break.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – U.S. shipper Weekend Wildcat heads an eight-horse field in the first 2-year-old allowance race of the Woodbine meet Thursday. The race will be run over six furlongs for a purse of $71,600.
Weekend Wildcat debuted at his Keeneland base April 2, when he was beaten a nose in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special on Polytrack. The third-place finisher, Speed Demon, graduated in his next race, before placing in three consecutive stakes.
AUBURN, Wash. – Noosa Beach, the fastest horse at Emerald Downs, headlines a list of 22 nominees for the Grade 3, $250,000 Longacres Mile on Aug. 22.
An Emerald-based runner has won every edition of the Mile since 2005, and Noosa Beach, a three-time stakes winner this year, would seem to have a substantial home-course advantage. But as it usually does, the Mile is shaping up as litmus test for the locals, with stakes winners from California, Kentucky, Florida, and Canada lining up to challenge Noosa Beach and his Emerald rivals.