SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Fantastic weather and full fields have helped Saratoga enjoy a strong first half of the 2009 meet, posting gains in attendance, ontrack handle, and all-sources handle compared to the first three weeks of 2008.
Total attendance for the first 18 days of the meet is 439,713, up 8.4 percent from 405,616 in 2008. Daily average attendance is 24,429, compared with 22,534 in 2008.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird was to undergo throat surgery on Tuesday to repair an entrapped epiglottis, but his connections are hopeful the 3-year-old gelding can still make the $1 million Travers Stakes here on Aug. 29.
"There's no guarantee but the doctors think he'll be good for Travers, but it'll be somewhat day-to-day," Chip Woolley, the trainer of Mine That Bird, said Monday outside the stakes barn. "We will not run him if he's not 100 percent. We will see how things go; whatever decision we make will be made for the horse."
Louisiana Downs will start and end next year's Thoroughbred meet about two weeks later than the current season after the Louisiana Racing Commission on Monday approved the track's request for an 84-date meet for 2010.
Louisiana Downs in Bossier City will open May 29 and run through Oct. 17, 2010. The current meet ends Oct. 4. The commission on Monday also approved a 46-date Quarter Horse meet for Louisiana Downs next year, from Jan. 9 through March 24.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Linda Rice put the cap on a terrific first half of the Saratoga season Monday when Awakino Cat rallied from just off the pace to win the by 1 1/4 lengths.
Sixthirteen, making his turf debut, set the pace and held second by a nose over Due Date, who nosed out Our Friend Harvey for third.
The win was a meet-leading 10th of the meet for Rice, all of which have come on the turf. Rice leads Todd Pletcher and Bill Mott, who are tied for second with nine wins apiece.
Jockey Norberto Arroyo may have just wasted his last chance at a riding career.
Arroyo, 33, was arrested early Sunday morning after being found to be in possession of approximately 12 grams of cocaine during a routine traffic stop a few blocks from Saratoga Racecourse. He was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, both felonies. As of Monday morning, he remained in jail pending a bail payment of $25,000.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Earl Barnett couldn't be in two places at once.
But two of his horses were on Sunday, and both won stakes races to give the 62-year-old Barnett the biggest day of his career.
First up was Anne's Purse, capturing the $125,000 Rainbow Connection some 90 miles down the road at Fort Erie with owner and breeder Jim De Angelis and Barnett's wife and assistant, Celia, looking on.
Just 25 minutes later, here at Woodbine, Barnett watched San Nicola Whiskey become a stakes winner in the $126,200 Victoriana.
DEL MAR, Calif. - With consecutive wins in Grade 1 races, including the John Mabee Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar, Magical Fantasy has given herself a chance to secure an Eclipse Award at year's end, a position she will attempt to strengthen in her next two starts.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hal Wiggins, whose career hit its peak earlier this year when he sent out Rachel Alexandra to a record victory in the 135th Kentucky Oaks, announced Monday that he intends to retire from training, effective with the end of the Churchill Downs fall meet in November.
Wiggins, 66, said he and his wife, Renee, "had been beating around the idea of retirement for the last year or so" and the financial windfall they received with the sale of Rachel Alexandra in May had provided the wherewithal for him to retire.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Coal Play is expected back at his favorite track Saturday as the horse to catch in the Grade 3, $300,000 Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Trained by Nick Zito, Coal Play is 3-1-1 in 5 starts here. Only once has he failed to crack the 100 Beyer Speed Figure barrier at Monmouth.
Coal Play will make his second appearance on the Jersey Shore this year, having scored a pacesetting win in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile, a Breeders' Cup Win and You're In victory that assures him a starting berth in the Dirt Mile at Santa Anita in November.
The bullring track with unbanked turns can make for some wild racing at the Humboldt County Fair, but Northern California horsemen come to Ferndale to run
Through the three days of the meet, which began Friday, 13 of the 19 Thoroughbred races had full fields.
Racing secretary Tom Doutrich said Sunday's $25,000 Humboldt County Marathon is shaping up nicely, and there may be enough interest in the 1 5/8-mile event to include a second race at this distance on the card.
