Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Mojica off to solid start

Orlando Mojica has won the riding title three times at Indiana Downs and is off to a good start during the first two weeks of the current meet. Mojica won two races Tuesday, raising his total to 18 wins and putting him seven in front of Leandro Goncalves. A 27-year-old native of Puerto Rico, Mojica won the second race aboard Winnersgeteven ($12.40) for trainer Phil Simms and the fifth race on Blue Cherries Spin ($3.40) for trainer Joe Woodard.

Mojica began riding in 2000 at Garden State Park. He attended jockey school in Puerto Rico before coming to the United States.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Haywood sweeps Quarter Horse futurities

Trainer Vann Haywood swept two rich, restricted Grade 2 Quarter Horse futurities Saturday night at Delta Downs, when Baby Im Game ($16.80) took the $272,500 Laddie and Beyondthegame ($29.60) upset the $250,000 Lassie. Both races were for 2-year-olds bred in Louisiana.

Danny Lavergne was aboard Baby Im Game for H 3 Farms, and J.R. Ramirez rode Beyondthegame for Kris Locklear. Both horses led throughout in their races, with Baby Im Game dominating by 1 1/4 lengths over favorite Heza Skipin Fast in the Laddie.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Changes on horizon as Lincoln opens

Lincoln's State Fair Park begins a 37-day meet Friday evening, the final season this five-eighths of a mile oval will be operated by its current management.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Jess Jackson buys Rachel Alexandra

Barbara D. Livingston
Could Rachel Alexandra run in the Preakness?

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Stonestreet Stables of Jess Jackson announced Wednesday that it had reached an agreement to purchase Rachel Alexandra, the sensational winner of the Kentucky Oaks last Friday at Churchill Downs, from owners Dolph Morrison and Mike Lauffer.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. A source close to the negotiations said that Rachel Alexandra would be transferred to the barn of trainer Steve Asmussen as soon as Thursday.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

McLaughlin picks Peter Pan

Adam Coglianese
Charitable Man will run in Saturday's Peter Pan rather than next weekend's Preakness.

ELMONT, N.Y. - There's a part of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin that regrets not running Charitable Man in the Kentucky Derby. The rational side of McLaughlin is glad he didn't.

With a second opportunity to run in a Triple Crown race in front of him, it appears that reason has once again won out. Instead of running in the Preakness, McLaughlin and owner William Warren have elected to run Charitable Man in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Both big jackpots hit by many

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Leftovers from Kentucky Derby Day resulted in bonanza payoffs for horseplayers chasing the pick six and super high five Wednesday at Churchill Downs. Winning $2 tickets in the pick six returned $33,557.80, while a winning $1 ticket in the super high five paid $15,509.20.

With huge carryovers in both pools, bettors fired with both barrels. The pick six, held on races 4-9, began with a jackpot of $781,145, to which another $2,680,729 was added. The super five, conducted on the ninth race, started with $251,856, with another $1,032,668 pouring in.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Ladies take up third of jocks' room

AUBURN, Wash. - Female jockeys are nothing new in the Pacific Northwest. Violet "Pinky" Smith broke into the old boys' club at Longacres in the early 1970's. Jane Driggers, Barbara Thompson, Vicky Aragon, and others followed in the ensuing years, winning races and even riding titles. But the group has rarely been deeper than the current one at Emerald Downs, where seven of the 21 licensed riders are women.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Double Bar S loaded for Kindergarten Futurity

With one notable exception, the Kindergarten Futurity at Los Alamitos each May has arrived a little too early for the juveniles from the Double Bar S Ranch. In recent years, the Double Bar S 2-year-olds have excelled in major futurities in the summer and fall.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Two old-timers attempt comebacks

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Gone but not forgotten? Exactly the opposite, in fact. A couple old-time racehorses from the Chicago circuit may have been virtually forgotten in the last many months, but they are not gone.

Cloudy's Knight, who won a Sovereign Award in Canada after he captured the Canadian International in 2007, is in the early stages of a comeback from a long layoff. But that comeback will come for a new trainer, Jonathan Sheppard, and at a new site, Sheppard's farm in Pennsylvania.

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 00:00

Stonestreet trying to buy Rachel Alexandra

LOUISVILLE, Ky. The Stonestreet Stables of Jess Jackson is interested in purchasing Rachel Alexandra, the sensational winner of the Kentucky Oaks last Friday at Churchill Downs, and was negotiating Wednesday to try to close a deal, according to a source close to the situation.

The possibility of a sale grew on Wednesday morning when Rachel Alexandra vetted out perfectly, according to the source, who cited a confidentiality agreement that precluded speaking on the record.