ARCADIA, Calif. - Lookin At Lucky is no worse than the co-favorite for the Kentucky Derby and is an odds-on favorite on the morning line for Saturday's Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, but his presence failed to scare off many challengers when entries were taken Wednesday morning, owing largely to the fact that this race is not of paramount importance for Lookin At Lucky.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Larry Jones was unable to win a maiden race with No Such Word. But his wife, Cindy, has made a graded stakes winner out of the filly, who is set to run Friday in the Fantasy at Oaklawn.
"It made me look stupid," Larry Jones joked. "I couldn't win a race with her!"
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Thoroughbreds are back in the flesh, as a total of 86 entries were taken on Tuesday for Friday's 10-race opening-day program at Woodbine.
A total of 88 horses were entered for last year's opening 10-race card, which took place on a Saturday, with 86 going to the post.
Trainers Bill Morey Jr. and Craig Dollase both figure Friday's $33,000 allowance feature at Golden Gate Fields is the perfect spot to get a horse ready for upcoming stakes. Morey will saddle the millionaire Bold Chieftain in the one-mile race on Tapeta, while Dollase sends in the Grade 2 winner Monterey Jazz, who makes his first start since finishing seventh in the Grade 2 Oak Tree Mile last Oct. 10.
Let others speculate how many horses trainer Todd Pletcher will bring to this year's Kentucky Derby. As far as Pletcher is concerned, it's not about quantity, it's about quality.
"Hopefully, we show up with one and with the right one," said Pletcher, who still seeks his first Derby trophy after having gone winless with 24 starters in nine previous attempts.
Given the results of the early Derby prep races and with several more preps remaining, it's not inconceivable that Pletcher could have as many as seven starters in the Churchill Downs starting gate on May 1.
The Grade 3, $300,000 Canadian Derby headlines 36 stakes totaling $2.08 million at the 2010 Northlands Park meet. The 1 3/8-mile derby is the richest race in Western Canada and the only graded race at Northlands, which runs from May 14 to Oct. 11.
The $75,000 Speed to Spare, for 3-year-olds and up, and the $75,000 Edmonton Distaff, for fillies and mares, will support the Canadian Derby. Both are the premier races for their divisions. The 1 3/8-mile Speed to Spare had its purse reduced $25,000 from last year.
Louisiana Downs has packaged most of its 30 stakes into five days for its upcoming meet, with the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby to lead an expanded program of eight stakes on Sept. 25. Louisiana Downs will open May 1, with the 84-date season to run through Sept. 26.
"We basically had been running two stakes a weekend," said Trent McIntosh, director of racing operations for Louisiana Downs. "This year, we'll have five big days."
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The locals who bore the brunt of a long Kentucky winter can reap their just rewards this weekend. Temperatures in the high 70s are being forecast for Friday and Saturday, the first two days at Keeneland, where top-class horses and horsemen will be on parade as usual amid the greenery of spring.
Keeneland president Nick Nicholson hosted a media conference Tuesday to express the excitement that has built toward the spring meet, which runs through April 23.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Illinois sits in the middle of the country, after all, a natural spot for an East-meets-West showdown in Saturday's Illinois Derby. Four horses from the West Coast and three from the East Coast were entered in the race Tuesday. But the one to beat in the Grade 3, $500,000 Illinois Derby might be the lone Midwesterner, Backtalk.
Woodbine Racetrack has become the 16th facility to be fully accredited by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Safety and Integrity Alliance
A review of the facility and meetings with alliance officials determined that Woodbine met the accreditation requirements, which include prerace and postrace veterinary inspections; safety equipment, training, and education; catastrophic injury procedures; out-of-competition testing protocols; and security training.
