An official of Hoosier Park in Indiana has acknowledged that the track gave its racing secretary a list of trainers who were supposed to receive specific stall allotments, but the official also said that the list was only a recommendation and not a demand tied to horsemen's support of pro-Hoosier legislation.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The reality has set in for trainer Barry Abrams and the partnership that owns Hot n' Dusty.
The 4-year-old filly has won 3 of 16 starts and is ready for her stakes debut at Hollywood Park this weekend. The options are not that attractive.
Abrams and owners Madeline Auerbach and the Little Red Feather syndicate can choose between a start against reigning champion older female Zenyatta in Saturday's $300,000 Vanity Handicap or against the multiple stakes winner Black Mamba in Sunday's $150,000 Beverly Hills Handicap on turf.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - With many in the field of 13 taking their best shots at the Queen's Plate, the road to Fort Erie's Prince of Wales could be lightly traveled.
In the immediate aftermath of Sunday's Queen's Plate, only winner Eye of the Leopard, runner-up Mr. Foricos Two U, and sixth-place finisher Keino West were committed to carrying on to the Prince of Wales.
Each would be making his first start on dirt in the $500,000 Prince of Wales, which follows the Queen's Plate in the Triple Crown series for Canadian-breds and will be run over 1 3/16 miles on July 12.
Racing at the San Joaquin County Fair in Stockton, Calif., got off to a strong start, fair CEO Debbie Cook said. Ontrack handle on opening day last Thursday showed an increase of more than 50 percent from last year's opener, she said. Stockton ran a September meet in 2008.
The first four days of racing at Stockton, Thursday through Sunday, were conducted without the benefit of the actual fair, which opens Wednesday. The meet closes this Sunday.
Pay the Man kept her undefeated record against distaff competition when she led every step of the way in the $50,000 J. William Petro Memorial Stakes at 1 1/16 miles here Saturday afternoon.
Pay the Man has now won 9 of her 10 starts here, with her lone defeat coming at the hands of her male stablemate Pyrite Personal in 2007.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - With a Father's Day crowd of just over 10,000 on hand to watch the proceedings, Lovango lived up to his odds-on favoritism to prevail in the $35,000 Shot of Gold Stakes at Canterbury Park on Sunday.
Intermittent showers during the afternoon prompted track maintenance to float the track, leaving a wet-fast surface at post time. The pace types in the Shot of Gold field appeared undeterred as Nordic Wind, Forest Echoes, and Distinguish skirmished in a three-horse battle through fractions of 22.60 and 45.84 seconds.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Though no winner paid more than 6-1 in Sunday's pick-six sequence, the wager went unhit for a second straight day at Belmont Park, resulting in a pick-six carryover of $154,890 entering Wednesday's card.
Most tickets died when Cocoa Beach, the 1-9 favorite in the Floral Park Heatherten Stakes, finished last of four in the race. The sequence began with the first-time starter Love My Mondays ($15.20) winning the fifth race by nearly 10 lengths and ended with Client Eight taking the nightcap at $11.80.
Singin Vicar was a two-time stakes winner last year at Arapahoe Park and picked a fine time to recapture his best form on Sunday when he rallied for a half-length win over defending champ Brahms Haze in the $39,915 Aspen Stakes.
Singin Vicar returned $34.80 after covering the six furlongs for statebreds in a sharp 1:09.62. John Rochabrun rode the winner for Willard Burbach and trainer James E. Jones.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - LD Fire and Streakin Laquinta finished in a dead heat for first in Saturday's $1 million Ed Burke Million Futurity, the first leg of Los Alamitos's three seven-figure Quarter Horse futurities.
LD Fire ($3) and Streakin Laquinta ($7) ran 350 yards in 17.34 seconds, finishing three-quarters of a length in front of Three Times the Toll in the field of 10.
