ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Lady Shakespeare, winner of the Grade 2 New York at Belmont Park in her last start at on June 19, is scheduled to undergo surgery this week and probably will be out of action until late fall.
"She's come up with a condylar fracture in her right hind," said Roger Attfield, who trains Lady Shakespeare for her owner and breeder, Charles Fipke
"It was after just an easy canter, her first day back to the track, that we knew there was a problem."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine is conducting an internal investigation into the death of Wake at Noon, a former Canadian horse of the year who sustained catastrophic injuries and was euthanized on the training track here Tuesday.
A 13-year-old, Wake At Noon had not started since Nov. 18, 2007, and had been pursuing an unproductive career at stud, which had been interrupted with a return to the races on at least one previous occasion.
"The horse certainly wasn't eligible to race here," said Jamie Martin, Woodbine's senior vice president of racing
A Little Warm pressured Miner's Reserve from the start of a $39,770 over 1 1/16 miles on Tuesday at Delaware Park, gradually wearing down his rival in the stretch and pulling clear by 2 1/4 lengths in his first start since a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 27.
A Little Warm, owned by Edward Evans, returned $3.20 as the favorite. His next start could come at Saratoga.
Three groups submitted bids to operate a casino at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens by a late-afternoon deadline on Tuesday, according to the New York Lottery, which is overseeing the process to evaluate the bids.
The three groups - the casino and racetrack operator Penn National Gaming Inc., the Malaysia-based casino company Genting New York, and a partnership of SL Green, Hard Rock, and the Clairvest Group - will compete to win the rights to operate the casino over a span of 30 years. The casino is expected to be one of the highest-grossing gambling properties on the East Coast.
A feeling of accomplishment and relief swept over trainer Jim Cassidy when the multiple stakes winner The Usual Q.T. returned from a three-month break to win a $71,500 allowance race on Sunday.
"It's a little of both," he said. "You never know how they'll come back."
Jockey Corey Nakatani will resume riding in Southern California on a full-time basis later this month, according to his new agent, Tommy Ball.
Nakatani, who has ridden at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs this year, will begin riding at Hollywood on July 9 or 10 and will focus on the Del Mar meeting, which runs from July 21 to Sept. 8, Ball said.
Ball said Nakatani may entertain a return to Southern California beyond Del Mar, if he is successful.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Turning Top gave trainer Simon Callaghan his first graded stakes win in the United States in the Grade 3 Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park last Saturday. The 3-year-old filly Conniption can give Callaghan a more prestigious milestone, his first win in a Grade 1, in Saturday's $250,000 American Oaks.
With only eight horses in his Santa Anita-based stable, Callaghan, 26, would have an excellent start to the summer if Conniption runs well in the American Oaks, which is run over 1 1/4 miles on turf. The race will be the filly's first start in a Grade 1.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The $1 million Queen's Plate, which will be run for the 151st time here at Woodbine on Sunday, always has boasted strong links to both royal and Canadian racing traditions.
Queen Elizabeth II will take care of the royal element, as she is scheduled to be on hand on race day after arriving in Nova Scotia on Monday for the beginning of her Canadian tour.
Local racing tradition will be reflected by the powerhouses Sam-Son Farm, which has won with five of 35 Queen's Plate entrants, and Stronach Stable, which has two Queen's Plate scores from 27 entrants.
Chamberlain Bridge could have as many as three more starts before a planned start in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs this fall, trainer Bret Calhoun said.
A dominant 4 1/2-length winner of the Arlington Sprint here Saturday, Chamberlain Bridge will be pointed toward the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap on July 31 at Penn National, a race in which he finished third last year. Also on Chamberlain Bridge's agenda is the $250,000 Turf Monster on Sept. 6 at Philadelphia Park, and the Woodford Stakes in October at Keeneland, Calhoun said.
Fresh off his win in the Cornhusker Handicap on Saturday night at Prairie Meadows, Shadowbdancing has returned to his home base at Arlington Park. Shadowbdancing stables here and trains here, but the horse apparently cannot show his best on Arlington's synthetic racing surface, and so will be pointed for another out-of-town start by trainer Terrel Gore.
