Digger could be disqualified from first place in the $70,000 Fire Plug Stakes at Laurel Park on Jan. 16 as the result of a preliminary postrace test showing the presence of a banned substance.
A Maryland Racing Commission official and Digger's trainer, Bruce Brown, confirmed that Digger tested positive for a banned substance, but the results of a test on a split sample taken from the horse have not been conducted so there has yet to be an official ruling.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Conveyance, the undefeated winner of the Grade 3 San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 16, worked six furlongs in 1:13.20 on Thursday, and is a candidate for the $150,000 Sham Stakes here on Feb. 27, trainer Bob Baffert said.
Owned by Zabeel Racing, Conveyance won a maiden race and an allowance race last year.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Though a 10-horse field was entered for Saturday's Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park, one horse conspicuous by his absence was Rodman, the 5 3/4-length winner of the Grade 3 Queens County Handicap at Aqueduct on Dec. 12.
Trainer Mike Hushion shipped Rodman to south Florida with the idea of running in the Donn, but he had to scrap those plans when the horse came up with a bruised foot two weeks before the race.
Oaklawn Park is well known for being a hotbed for young equine talent, with such horses as Rachel Alexandra, Curlin, Smarty Jones, and Afleet Alex having raced at the track over the past several years. But it also houses an unusually high percentage of up-and-coming trainers, such as 35-year-olds Tim Ice, known for his work with champion Summer Bird, and Mac Robertson, who has one of the better handicap horses on the grounds in Win Willy.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A decade removed from his decade of dominance on the New York Racing Association circuit, Jorge Chavez dreams of a return to the glory days.
Chavez has constructed a career most riders would sign up for even before setting foot into the stirrups. It includes 4,445 career victories, 196 graded stakes victories - highlighted by a Kentucky Derby win and two Breeders' Cups - and an Eclipse Award as North America's top jockey.
WHO'S HOT
The inner track got a couple of days off (Jan. 27-28), giving horsemen, horses, and players a chance to catch their collective breath and get ready for the run-up into the main-track portion of the meet.
Ramon Dominguez continues to dominate the rider standings. Two wins Friday moved him further ahead of second-place David Cohen, 50-38, though third-leading rider Angel Serpa had a double of his own to keep pace at 22 wins.
It is a textbook underdog tale. A group of racing fans pool their money, buy a weanling for $12,500, watch it develop, and next thing they know, they're running with the big boys.
For the Quantum Racing Team partnership, seeing Mambo Meister walk into the starting gate for the Grade 1 Donn Handicap on Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., will be just another in a series of unexpected thrills. The 5-year-old gelding has taken the partners, some of them racing novices, on quite a ride already, winning five stakes and banking more than $335,000.
WHO'S HOT
Javier Castellano
Castellano had the best week of any rider in this outstanding jockey colony, posting eight victories from Jan. 27-31. A native of Venezuela, Castellano, 32, saved his best for the weekend, taking the early daily double Saturday before closing the week with a hat trick the following afternoon to surge into second place in the standings behind John Velazquez. Castellano was also kind enough to share the wealth last week, posting his eight wins for eight trainers.
John Velazquez
ARCADIA, Calif. - Dan Ward could not reach for his cell phone fast enough.
As assistant trainer in Southern California for Jerry Hollendorfer, Ward was the first person on the team to see Blind Luck when she arrived from Florida last summer after a private purchase.
Ward was anxious to share his opinion with the boss, who that day was at his Bay Area base. "She had a lot of body to fill into," Ward told Hollendorfer. "She's all legs."
WHO'S HOT
*Rafael Bejarano rode five winners on the Jan. 30 Sunshine Millions card for horses bred in California or Florida. Bejarano ended the week with 29 wins, four clear of Victor Espinoza (25). It was the second five-bagger for Bejarano on big days for statebreds; he also won five races April 25 at Hollywood Park on the California Gold Rush card.
