MIAMI - Reigning Eclipse Award winner Indian Blessing did not make the trip from California for the $350,000 Princess Rooney Handicap and will be scratched from the Grade 1 race, which highlights Saturday's Summit of Speed program at Calder.
Trainer Bob Baffert said Indian Blessing couldn't have been doing better but withheld his star from the Princess Rooney to avoid a potential issue with the postrace testing in the event that she won the race.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - They have come from New York and California, from Pennsylvania and Kentucky - to say nothing of the wilds of Will Rogers Downs in Tulsa, Okla. But there are surprisingly few of them in three of the four six-figure stakes races at Arlington Park on Saturday, races that were drawn here Wednesday.
Portland Meadows will hold a 79-day 2009-10 meeting beginning Oct. 5 and ending May 1, 2010, the track announced Wednesday. The schedule is up from the 66 days carded in 2008-09.
The track will race Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays through February, then shift to Mondays and Wednesdays for March and April. Closing day will be on a Saturday, Kentucky Derby Day.
First post will be at 12:45 p.m. daily, except for May 1, when live racing will begin at 11:05 a.m.
The Portland Meadows barn area will open for full-time training on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Veteran jockey Tim Doocy suffered a serious injury to his upper left arm in a spill during morning workouts on Sunday. The injury, a fracture of the humerus bone, occurred after Doocy was dislodged from a horse he had breezed for trainer Kenny Smith.
I don t know his name and I d never been on him before, Doocy said. Galloping out after the work, he went unexpectedly to the outside fence and dumped me. As a result of the awkward fall, Doocy s left arm was pinned behind his back.
Freddie Mata posted a riding triple at Pinnacle on Tuesday to move into third place in the standings with 16 wins. He trails only Ricardo Barrios (21) and Jeffrey Skerrett (18).
Mata won his second straight race on Chicago invader Negra Noche ($7) in the third race for trainer Frank Kirby and owner Avers Wexler. He then won the fourth on Portage Creek ($5.20) for leading trainer Robert Gorham and owner Henry Mast. Mata completed his triple with She s Got the Loot ($13.20) for owner-trainer Shane Spiess in the seventh. Spiess also won the opener with Act Up ($20).
Friday night s fundraiser for jockey Mike Luark has drawn a wide array of items to be raffled and auctioned off, ranging from a 37-inch Sony HDTV to an Australian saddle.
Luark, seriously injured in a spill here on Memorial Day weekend, suffered several broken vertebrae and had steel rods inserted in his back to stabilize the injury. He is expected to be out of action for a year or more.
Penn National Race Course is hopeful that the record purse of $200,000 for the Pennsylvania Governor s Cup on Aug. 1 will attract some prospects for this fall s Breeders Cup Turf Sprint.
The purse has been doubled for this year s five-furlong race, making it one of the richest turf sprints in North America. Aside from the Breeders Cup, only the $250,000 Turf Monster at Philadelphia Park and the $500,000 Nearctic at Woodbine are worth more than the Governor s Cup.
The trainers race is up in the air with only five days left in the Indiana Downs meet. Through Tuesday, four trainers had a legitimate shot at winning the title, and three others had an outside chance.
Barbra McBride and Joe Davis were tied with 16 wins each. McBride had saddled 109 horses at the meet through Tuesday and had five more entered for Wednesday and Friday. Davis has started 51 and had three entered for those two cards.
A 14-year-old track record was eclipsed on Sunday when Check Out Kaelie bested five rivals in a 300-yard allowance race for Quarter Horses with a clocking of 15.578 seconds.
Check Out Kaelie, a 3-year-old California-bred daughter of Check Him Out, is campaigned by Diane and Paul Wolf.
Edward Ross Hardy whose wife, Kari, manages the Hardy string at Canterbury trains Check Out Kaelie, who was ridden by the meet s leading Quarter Horse rider, Ry Eikleberry.
The old record was set by Ignitions Off in 1995.
Last weekend s closing of Churchill Downs, combined with limited opportunities to race at a shortened Ellis Park meet, has meant an influx of new trainers to Delaware Park for the summer.
Neil Howard, Helen Pitts, Steve Margolis, and Wally Dollase will all have between 10 and 22 horses stabled on the grounds. The most immediate impact, however, might come from the barn of Brad Cox, who is bringing in about a dozen, including a potential starter for next weekend s $1 million Delaware Handicap in Temple Street.