Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Gonzalez, Stephen each 5 for 6 on Fort Erie card

Trainer Nick Gonzalez and jockey Anthony Stephen both went 5 for 6 on the nine-race program at Fort Erie on Tuesday, with four of their wins coming in tandem.

Gonzalez and Stephen won the first with High Plateau ($3.20), the third with Wantabe ($5.20), the fourth with Kilmoganny ($4.30), and the seventh with Striking Cheetah ($7.20).

Gonzalez also won the fifth race with I Am Gold ($9.20), ridden by Roderick DaCosta, while Stephen took the finale with Fashion Guru ($9.20), trained by Bruce Pollock.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Etc. . . .

Jockey Rodney Prescott was released from St. John's Medical center in Anderson, Ind., where he had been taken after his mount in Hoosier Park's first race on Monday clipped heels and fell, throwing Prescott. After X-rays and evaluation, Prescott was doing well, according to his agent, John Herbstreit.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Cradle card handle takes hit

Ontrack handle on the Labor Day card at River Downs, which includes the meet's premier race, the $200,000 Cradle Stakes, was down 29 percent from last year.

Two factors were seen as primary contributors to the decline. A speech by President Obama's at the AFL-CIO picnic adjacent to the track caused traffic problems, and the Cradle was taken off the turf 90 minutes before it was run.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Four-day meet wraps up racing year

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. - Horsemen's Atokad Downs closes out the 2009 Thoroughbred season in Nebraska with a four-day mini-meet that runs Thursday through Sunday.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Sellers thinking he can stay on upswing

With the Evangeline Downs meet having closed Monday night, jockey Shane Sellers will now be riding at Louisiana Downs on a regular basis. He launched his comeback from a layoff of more than four years earlier this summer, and is winning at an outstanding 25 percent rate. And, despite a late start at Evangeline, he ended up fourth in the standings there with 42 wins from 160 starts, for mount earnings of $765,042.

"I had a great meet," said Sellers, who closed it out with a win in the $75,000 Opelousas on Saturday.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Baffert high on Lookin at Lucky

Benoit & Associates
Lookin at Lucky is headed to the Norfolk Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

DEL MAR, Calif. - There were nine Grade 1 races run at Del Mar this summer, and trainer Bob Baffert won five of them. He won going short (Zensational), he won going long (Richard's Kid), he won on the turf (Internallyflawless), and, naturally, he won with 2-year-olds, with Lookin at Lucky giving Baffert a record ninth win in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Monday.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Attfield takes two with Sand Cove, Society's Chairman

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sand Cove and Society's Chairman, a pair of Ontario-sired aces trained by Roger Attfield, lived up to their advance notices here on Monday's yearling sales stakes program.

Sand Cove, a 4-year-old colt, took over early on the backstretch under regular rider Richard Dos Ramos en route to a 3 3/4-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Elgin for colts and geldings, 3 and up.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Breeders' Cup may be She Be Wild's next stop

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Soon after sweeping Arlington's pair of 2-year-old stakes races last Saturday, trainer Wayne Catalano said he thought Arlington-Washington Lassie winner She Be Wild would wind up in the Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland, and Dixie Band in the Breeders' Futurity there. But by Monday afternoon, when the dust had settled, Catalano was singing a different tune.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Chickasaw Nation to buy Remington Park

A company owned by the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma has won an auction to purchase Remington Park in Oklahoma City from bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corp., a top official involved in the bankruptcy said Tuesday.

Global Gaming Group, the Chickasaw company, won the rights to purchase the racetrack and casino after entering an $80.25 million bid a month ago. No other bidder challenged Global Gaming's bid in an auction that was held on Tuesday morning in New York, according to Michael Wildish, an official with Miller Buckfire, a bankruptcy consultant hired by Magna.

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 00:00

Man Chester Man ships in for Lafayette win

The well-traveled Man Chester Man stalked the early pace under Tony McNeil before delivering a knockout punch down the stretch to win Monday night's $75,000 Lafayette Stakes, the closing night feature for 2-year-olds at Evangeline Downs. Vito Filitto finished a length and a half back in second, and was followed by Bailey's Charm, part of a three-horse entry that was bet down to 3-10.