INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The first stop in the morning is the one he covets the most.
At 4:45 a.m. Ben Cecil has the neonatal unit at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, Calif., largely to himself, a chance for the 41-year-old trainer to spend 30 quiet minutes with his 5-week-old son before heading to the racing stable to oversee morning training.
"It's just me and him and it's a nice time," he said. "It puts my mind at ease, too."
Nick Gonzalez was feted for his 1,000th career victory after sending out Boca Pass to capture the eighth race at Fort Erie on Monday.
But, through a twist of fate, Gonzalez retroactively added another winner to his total on Monday and already had reached that milestone.
Gonzalez had sent out Klondike Jane to finish second in the last race of the 2009 Fort Erie meeting but the first-place finisher, Back to You, subsequently came up with a positive test.
The CEO of the Alameda County Fair, Rick Pickering, has a simple goal for the 16 days of racing that start Wednesday in Pleasanton.
"We're going to try to deliver top-of-the-line fair racing," said Pickering of the Pleasanton meet, which ends July 11. "We are going to have real dirt and real racing."
There's more to Pickering's wish than simply having a good meet this summer.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sunday's $117,800 Hill 'n' Dale was billed as a rematch between Milwaukee Appeal and Tasty Temptation, who had met three times before, including finishing one-two in last year's Woodbine Oaks.
Tasty Temptation had finished second with Milwaukee Appeal third when the fillies met here in the 1 1/16-mile La Lorgnette in their start before the Woodbine Oaks. Their last encounter before Sunday's had come in the Queen's Plate, in which Milwaukee Appeal ran third and Tasty Temptation fourth.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The $100,000 bonus that goes to the owner of the horse who can sweep the Big Apple Triple series for New York-breds will likely go unpaid this year. The connections of Friend or Foe, winner of the Triple's first leg, Sunday's Mike Lee Stakes at Belmont Park, have their sights set higher than that.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - California-based Kinsale King will remain in England for the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket on July 9 following his third-place finish in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot last Saturday, trainer Carl O'Callaghan said.
This week, O'Callaghan is focusing on winning his first stakes in the United States since January when Princess Haya starts in the $100,000 Beverly Hills Handicap for fillies and mares on turf on Saturday.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Line of David, the winner of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in April but 18th in the Kentucky Derby last month, has been bought by B. Wayne Hughes and retired to stud.
Line of David will enter stud at Hughes's Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky in 2011, Hughes said on Sunday. The colt will not race again this year.
Line of David, by Lion Heart, won 3 of 7 starts and $662,000 for owners Ike and Dawn Thrash and trainer John Sadler.
Bella Notte, ridden by Derek Bell, had to survive a long stewards' inquiry to win the $50,000 Princess Elaine Stakes for fillies and mares on Sunday at Canterbury Park.
Bella Notte ($6) took a quick two-length lead through early fractions of 22.96 and 46.96 in the 1 1/16-mile turf race. Tickleyourfancy came up to Bella Notte's outside in midstretch, and Bella Notte appeared to drift out a bit. Bella Notte held on to win by a half-length. Defending Princess Elaine champion Minnesota Mafia finished third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by the winner.
Pay the Man had survive a claim of foul by the rider of second-place finisher Slides Choice before being awarded a neck victory in in the $50,000 Wm. J. Petro Memorial at Thistledown on Saturday. Honey Be Fleet was third in the field of seven Ohio-bred fillies and mares.
It was the third consecutive win in the Petro for Pay the Man.
Pay the Man gained a slight advantage coming out of the first turn of the 1 1/16-mile race. She was joined by Slides Choice at the three-eighths pole and those two raced on near even terms the balance of the trip.
AUBURN, Wash. - Favored Noosa Beach rolled to an easy victory Sunday in the one-mile, $50,000 Budweiser Handicap at Emerald Downs, running his 2009 record to 3 for 3 and stamping himself as the leading local contender for the Grade 3, $250,000 Longacres Mile on Aug. 22.
Ridden by Ricky Frazier for trainer Doris Harwood, Noosa Beach ($6.60) led from start to finish on a sloppy track, drawing away late to win by 9 1/4 lengths in 1:35. Gallon rallied from last to finish second, and Rooster City was another length behind in third.
