In line with other Kentucky tracks on a downward spiral, Kentucky Downs has announced major cuts in its marquee events for 2009.
Kentucky Downs, the turf-only track located near Franklin, Ky., announced late Tuesday that purses for all three of its Kentucky Cup events on Sept. 19 have been slashed. The Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Turf has been lowered from $200,000 to $150,000, while the two supporting events, the Ladies Turf and Turf Dash, have been cut in half, from $100,000 to $50,000.
AUBURN, Wash. - California invaders Awesome Gem and Autism Awareness will carry high weight of 122 pounds if they start as expected Sunday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Longacres Mile, and Assessment, the leading contender among horses stabled at Emerald Downs, will pack 119.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In Saturday's Sword Dancer Invitational, Grand Couturier will try to accomplish what Commentator could not in last week's Whitney - win the same Grade 1 race at Saratoga for a third time. But unlike Commentator, who would have had to share his accomplishment with two other horses, Grand Couturier seeks an unprecedented three-peat in the $500,000 turf race.
Trainer Brandon Bridges spent many of his formative racing years at Louisiana Downs, where he worked as an exercise rider as a teenager and later became an assistant trainer. Saturday, he could reach a new milestone at the track. Bridges is well positioned to win the first stakes race of his career with Red Lead, who is the probable favorite for the $100,000 Prelude.
MIAMI - Michele Blanco, the hard-working director of communications at Calder, has dubbed the Tortora family a "Florida Stallion Stakes dynasty," and rightly so.
When Sweetlalabye rallied to a three-quarter-length victory in Saturday's Desert Vixen Stakes, it marked the 10th time trainer Manny Tortora has posed in the winner's circle following a Stallion Stakes race. Sweetlalabye is an all-family affair as she's owned and bred by Tortora's wife, Jacqueline, along with his daughter and son-in-law, Toni and Richard Ancona.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Earl Barnett is hoping his Ontario-sired stars will be able to shine on two fronts Sunday.
At Woodbine, You Will Love Me is slated to go postward in the $125,000 Victoriana, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for Ontario-sired fillies and mares that she won last year.
At Fort Erie, Anne's Purse is scheduled to be on hand for the $125,000 Rainbow Connection, a five-furlong turf race for Ontario-sired fillies and mares.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A decision on where leading Horse of the Year contender Rachel Alexandra will make her next start won't be announced for at least another week. On Tuesday, however, the superstar filly gave an early indication that she will be ready to run whenever and wherever owner Jess Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen wish.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - An English racing journalist last Saturday morning pointed out that the names of Gio Ponti's beaten opponents this year would not strike fear in the heart of a European trainer with a Grade 1 stakes horse. That's probably true, and the second- and third-place finishers from the 2009 Arlington Million, Just as Well and Stotsfold, are not going to be high on the list of top-rated horses in the world. But the point is that Gio Ponti keeps thumping whoever is thrown at him, running different kinds of races to suit different demands and winning all the while.
