The New York Racing Association made a slight adjustment to the final time of Monday's Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes won by Quality Road, but the new time of 1:13.74 remains a track record.
In another development regarding the Amsterdam, Andrew Beyer and his associates have adjusted the Beyer Speed Figure to 110, raised from an original assigned figure of 103. The new figure is based on the belief that the final time is correct, something Beyer and his associates disputed on Monday.
AUBURN, Wash. - Emerald Downs director of racing Bret Anderson unwrapped the list of nominees for the Grade 3, $300,000 Longacres Mile late Sunday, and by Wednesday morning the original roster of 25 had been pared to fewer than 20 horses with designs on the Northwest's richest race.
Emerald-based stakes winners Assessment and Atta Boy Roy top the local contingent for the Aug. 16 showcase; Teide, a recent stakes winner at Hastings, is the leading contender from Canada; and Sierra Sunset, one of the nation's leading 3-year-olds last year, headlines a small group from California.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Helen Pitts spoke cheerfully enough - even if she really didn't want to talk. Sure, Pitts could speak for days on the merits and characteristics of Einstein, the best horse in her stable. But Pitts is feeling reticent this week.
"Couldn't you talk to Clement or to Mott or something?" Pitts wanted to know, reached by phone Wednesday. "I don't want the hex on me."
Some of the Europe's best riders will be at Arlington Park for Million Day on Saturday. Most are known to American racegoers, but at least one will be new to these shores, as will the Brazilian rider of Gloria de Campeao. Here's a heads up on some of the lesser-known riders.
DEL MAR, Calif. - When the calendar turned from 2008 to 2009, Zenyatta was the unquestioned leader for Horse of the Year. Her owners, Jerry and Ann Moss, didn't hesitate to keep her in training for another year following her victory in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, which stretched her unbeaten record to nine. Curlin, who bearhugged the Horse of the Year title for two years, was retired. There was no outstanding front-runner for the Triple Crown races. The world was hers.
Jockey Freddie Mata had a double Tuesday to maintain his spot as the top rider at Pinnacle Race Course. He stayed ahead of Jeffrey Skerrett, who also had a pair on the card. Mata has 42 wins to Skerrett's 40.
Mata started the day by getting Tizzy's Prospector ($4.20) to prevail by a length in the first race for trainer Frank Prainito. Mata then earned win No. 42 in the fourth, getting Rapidness ($4.80) home first by a half-length for trainer James Jackson.
Canterbury Park hosts its third annual Extreme Day race card Sunday, an event that has attracted record crowds in previous seasons. Ostrich and camel races will be contested between events for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses.
Some of the events listed in the condition book: A starter allowance for gray horses, a 3 1/2-furlong sprint with a $20,000 purse, a mile turf allowance for horses who have yet to win on grass, a 2 1/16-mile event for $10,000 claimers, and a 100-yard event for Quarter Horses.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., will draw more than 150 horseplayers from at least 17 different states and Canada for this weekend's qualifying tournament for the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship.
There were 152 players signed on for the qualifier as of Wednesday morning, with the two-day tournament to begin Saturday and run through Sunday. The top three finishers will advance to the finale at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas on Jan. 29-30.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Bob Holthus once was a mainstay of the Chicago circuit, but that might as well have been several lifetimes ago. Waves of horse trainers have come and gone since Holthus spent the better part of 11 years at Arlington Park and Hawthorne in the 1970s and early 1980s, a time when the International Festival of Racing was only a twinkle in someone's eye.
