Hawthorne Race Course's fall-winter meet that concluded Saturday was down, but not out.
Daily average all-sources handle declined 7 percent from the 2008-2009 fall-winter meet, falling from $2,768,911 to $2,564,354. Out-of-state handle on Hawthorne races also dropped 7 percent, from a daily average in 2008-2009 of 2,367,873 to $2,207,517 this season. That decline wiped out a 2008-2009 out-of-state gain over the previous fall-winter meet.
There are many ways for a horse to impress on the racetrack. One way is to pull clear for a multi-length victory such as Secretariat did in the Belmont. Another is putting in a game effort such as Affirmed did in his Belmont victory over Alydar.
Antares World's victory over Fashion Trend in the California Oaks on Friday at Golden Gate was of the Affirmed variety, as the two battled head-and-head down the stretch, neither yielding an inch.
Trainer Steve Specht said he knew going into the race that Antares World had a competitive streak.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Clutch Player, the Bob Baffert-trained Kentucky Derby prospect, died Monday after contracting a form of pneumonia over the weekend, the trainer said.
A colt sired by Malibu Moon, Clutch Player scored a four-length debut victory Dec. 19 at Hollywood Park, the day Baffert won four races including the Grade 1 CashCall Hollywood Futurity with Lookin at Lucky. Clutch Player won the six-furlong maiden race in a quick 1:08.91, earned an 87 Beyer Figure, and was expected to stretch out early in the Santa Anita meet.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Lava Man, who rose from a $50,000 claimer to the winner of seven Grade 1 stakes, has been retired after a comeback attempt last month ended with a last-place finish in the at Santa Anita, co-owner Steve Kenly said on Tuesday.
Kenly, who owns Lava Man with his father and sister, Dave and Tracy, and Jason Wood, made the decision earlier this week after consulting with trainer Doug O'Neill and veterinarian Doug Herthel.
Injured jockey Daniel Centeno was released from a Tampa hospital on Tuesday, two days after being kicked by a horse at Tampa Bay Downs.
Centeno was kicked in the chest before the seventh race on Sunday and taken to the intensive care unit of Town and Country Hospital. Centeno said on Tuesday that medical tests revealed no serious damage.
"I'm still very sore in that area," he said. "But I'm feeling much better than Sunday."
Centeno said he's not sure when he will return to riding but that he intends to get on horses Friday.
On paper, the lineup for Monday's $75,000 Sleigh Ride Stakes at Philadelphia Park looked loaded with early speed. On the racetrack, however, nobody challenged Poovey early and nobody could catch her late.
Shipping in from New Jersey for trainer Bruce Levine, the 5-year-old mare Poovey ($10.60) led wire to wire under jockey Kendrick Carmouche to score by 1 1/2 lengths in the mile-and-70-yard race for fillies and mares.
Our Khrysty, who lunged at the start, overcame the bad break to finish second as the 2-1 favorite, a length in front of 34-1 longshot Marija's Wish.
Trainer Steve Miyadi recorded the 1,000th winner of his training career, saddling Shesgoinghollywood for a 2 1/4-lengthvictory in Saturday's first race at Golden Gate Fields.
Russell Baze guided the favored Shesgoinghollywood ($5.20) to victory in the 1 1/16-mile starter allowance race.
The 52-year-old Miyadi saddled his first winner, Wachira, at Del Mar in 1987. He is best known as the trainer of Drag Race, winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity in 1989, and Music Prospector, fourth in the 1990 Preakness.
Jockey Daniel Centeno, a three-time leading rider at Tampa Bay Downs, remained in the intensive care unit of the Town and Country Hospital in Tampa, Fla., on Monday afternoon after being injured in a paddock accident on Sunday.
Centeno was taken to the hospital after being kicked in the chest before the seventh race. Centeno was taken from the paddock secured to a back board but was reported by track officials to be conscious and alert at the time.
Centeno was second in the Tampa standings with 15 wins, one behind Rosemary Homeister Jr.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - It's been 10 years since trainer Patrick Biancone has stabled a regular string at Gulfstream Park. But it certainly didn't take long for the veteran horseman to let people know he was back.
Biancone won the first race on Sunday's opening-day program with Grand Captain, a 4-year-old son of Grand Slam who earned his diploma with a come-from-behind victory over the favored Causeway's Kin.
"I was leading trainer for a half-hour," the good-humored Biancone said at his barn on Monday.
