ELMONT, N.Y. - There will be no swan-song race for Better Talk Now.
Better Talk Now, the 10-year-old gelding and earner of $4.35 million in purse money, was officially retired from racing Tuesday after developing a fresh tear in the suspensory ligament of his left hind leg, trainer Graham Motion said. Better Talk Now was scheduled to make the 52nd and final start of his career in Saturday's $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The autumn racing season starts Wednesday with a simple objective for millionaire comebacker Desert Code and every other horse running in nine graded stakes over the first two weeks - finish with run, looking for more.
And if Desert Code should pop up and win the Grade 3 Morvich Handicap, consider it a bonus. "I'm hoping he finishes strong. I'm hoping he comes running," trainer David Hofmans said. "I don't really care where he finishes. I just hope he comes running."
:: RACE OF THE DAY:
Longshot front-runner Z Humor ($28.40) raced wire to wire in the $100,000 Ralph M. Hinds Handicap at Fairplex Park on Sunday, final weekend of the Los Angeles County Fair meet.
The 15-day meet ends Monday with a mandatory payout in the $1 win pick nine. The bet has not been hit all meet; the closing-day carryover is $155,381.
Lord Justice, making his first start in 2 1/2 months, led wire to wire to defeat Bunker Hill by a half-length in Sunday's closing-day feature at Monmouth Park, the $70,000 .
Ridden by Chris Decarlo for trainer Todd Pletcher, Lord Justice ($7) covered 1 1/16 miles on a sloppy, sealed track in 1:44.97. Early in the meet, Lord Justice also won the Spend a Buck Stakes.
Bunker Hill was 5 3/4 lengths clear of Precursor, the slight favorite in a field of five 3-year-olds at 2-1.
Make Note took the short way home while Mineralogist took the long way around, but both routes were successful Sunday in two divisions of stakes for New York-bred juveniles at Belmont Park.
In the $107,000 for colts and geldings, Make Note, who stumbled at the start, shot through an opening along the rail leaving the five-sixteenths pole and then outfinished a stubborn Come From Behind to win by two lengths. Come From Behind, who was part of the early pace from the outset, finished four lengths ahead of City Trooper.
There probably is nobody sadder to see the 2009 Arlington Park meeting draw to a close than the connections of Peyote Patty, who capped off a perfect 4-for-4 Arlington summer with an upset victory in the $100,000 Virginia H. Tarra Illinois Owners Stakes here Sunday afternoon.
Koala Beach raced to an eight-length victory Saturday in the $75,000 Gottstein Futurity at Emerald Downs. A popular favorite in a field of seven that included four fillies and four maidens, he ran the 1-1/16 miles in 1:42.80 and paid $2.60.
A Washington-bred son of Harbor the Gold, Koala Beach won his second consecutive stakes race and third race in six lifetime starts.
Crown Isle ($29.10) sprang an upset Sunday at Woodbine in the $151,200 , winning the nine-furlong test for 3-year-olds by a length over Eagle Poise.
Emile Ramsammy rode Crown Isle, who came wide from the back of the pack to inherit the lead from pacemaker See U At the Top early in the stretch. He then held Eagle Poise at bay throughout the final furlong, and stopped the timer in 1:50.79.
Tutti Buona Gente finished a neck behind Eagle Poise in third. Favored Eye of the Leopard, this year s Queen Plate winner, was a non-threatening sixth in the eight-horse field.
Northlands Park has cut seven days from its current meet, with officials citing a lack of available purse money. The meet, originally scheduled to run through Oct. 25, will now end Oct. 12, for a total of 89 days rather than the planned 96.
Shirley McClellan, chair of Horse Racing Alberta, the province's governing body of the sport, said the "the decision is about fiscal responsibility in our industry."
