By Marty McGee
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rachel Alexandra will be a huge favorite when she faces just four other fillies and mares Saturday at Churchill Downs in the Grade 2, $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap, a race in which the 2009 Horse of the Year will be seeking her first victory as a 4-year-old.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Citing "strong wagering" on the Kentucky Oaks and Derby six weeks beforehand, Churchill Downs has raised overnight purses by 10 percent for the final 14 cards of its 42-day spring meet, effective with the Stephen Foster program on Saturday, track officials announced late Tuesday.
While Churchill does not usually release daily handle figures, wagering on the 13-race Derby card on May 1 was $162.7 million, up 4.3 percent over last year. Total wagering on the 12-race Oaks card on April 30 was $36 million, up 20 percent.
The Oaklawn Park board of stewards has disqualified Win Willy from his win in the Grade 3, $150,000 Razorback Handicap after he tested positive for two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. The action elevates Spotsgone, who finished second in the race, to the winner of the Razorback, which was run on March 6.
A split sample confirmed the positives, and the ruling was upheld by the Arkansas Racing Commission at its meeting on Tuesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Majority owner Jess Jackson was expected to announce that Rachel Alexandra will race Saturday in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs, ending weeks of speculation about where the 2009 Horse of the Year will make her next start.
Caroline Shaw, who handles public relations for Jackson, said Tuesday afternoon that she was scheduled to confer by phone with Jackson and that an official announcement would be forthcoming soon thereafter.
Retama Park near San Antonio has proposed reducing its upcoming Thoroughbred meet from 30 nights of racing to 16 in a plan that has been presented to horsemen's representatives in Texas, said Bryan Brown, the track's chief executive officer. Any change made to the dates would have to be approved by the Texas Racing Commission. Brown said that under the proposal, Retama would open a week later than scheduled, on Sept. 3, and run through Oct. 23. The original closing date was Nov. 6. Retama would race two nights a week under the proposal, on Fridays and Saturdays.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Tasty Temptation entered last year's 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks as one of the logical choices for trainer Mark Casse and finished second behind Milwaukee Appeal.
This year, Casse will be looking to get to the Woodbine Oaks winner's circle with Isabeau's Elegance, who is coming into Sunday's $500,000 feature off a maiden win at 1 1/16 miles here May 21.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Hot Cha Cha is coming sooner, Acoma later, but if things go well for the one-two finishers in last Saturday's Mint Julep Stakes at Churchill Downs, they both will wind up at Arlington on Aug. 21 for a run in the Grade 1 Beverly D.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It will be one year ago Saturday when Blame finished a barely noticed third in a first-level allowance sprint at Churchill Downs.
"We thought the world of him even back then," said Al Stall Jr., who trains Blame for Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, who bred and own the 4-year-old colt in partnership. "Still, it is hard to imagine that he'd be the favorite for the Stephen Foster just a year later."
Wasted Tears will be going for her seventh straight win when she makes her next start. But where that race will come has yet to be determined. Bart Evans, who owns and trains Wasted Tears, is deliberating among stakes at Arlington, Del Mar, and Saratoga.
"I'd like to give her a chance to run in a Grade 1," he said.
MIAMI - Trainer David Fawkes arrived at Churchill Downs early Tuesday morning with his Grade 2 winner Duke of Mischief, who will be among the top contenders in Saturday's Grade 1 Stephen Foster.
But the Foster is not the only big race for the Fawkes stable on Saturday. Back home at Calder, Fawkes will send out graded stakes winner Big Drama for his much-anticipated 2010 debut in the Ponche Handicap. Several hours earlier, baby brother Little Drama makes his career debut here in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds.
