LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Craig Dollase is still the youngest trainer to win a Breeders' Cup race, having been age 27 when he saddled Reraise to win the BC Sprint at Churchill Downs in 1998.
And if Nan can somehow pull an upset Friday at Churchill, Dollase might earn another distinction: the most absent trainer to win the Kentucky Oaks.
Instead of traveling to Kentucky, Dollase has opted to stay home in Southern California for the first communion service for his oldest of two daughters, Audrey.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For a while there, trainer Bret Calhoun was hoping he could get owner Clarence Scharbauer back to Churchill Downs. Silver City, a highly impressive winner in three of his first four career starts, was just the horse to take them to the Kentucky Derby.
New York racing fans affected by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's decision to scrap service from Penn Station to Belmont Park now have an alternate means of getting to the track.
The New York Racing Association will provide free shuttle bus service between the Queens Village station and Belmont Park beginning with Wednesday's opening-day card.
The minimum losing mount fee for a jockey riding at Delaware Park will be $75, up from $45, beginning with the meet that started on Saturday, officials of the Jockeys' Guild announced on Friday.
The increase was implemented as part of a broader range of raises for jockeys who ride losing mounts in races. Under the new system, the minimum at Delaware Park will begin at $75 at end at $105. Before the increase, the range began at $45 and also ended at $105.
Smooth Air, who had been the probable favorite for the Grade 3, $300,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park on Saturday, was scratched from the race after a bout with colic on Thursday night, said his trainer, Bennie Stutts Jr. The scratch was made Friday.
Smooth Air won the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap in his last start March 14, and was to use the Texas Mile as a springboard to the Grade 1, $600,000 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. But now, the Met Mile is out, too, said Stutts.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Barclay Tagg entered two horses for Wednesday's Grade 3 Westchester, the opening-day feature at Belmont Park. While the multiple Grade 1 winner Tale of Ekati is the more accomplished of the two horses, the 6-year-old Wicked B. Havior may be the more interesting.
Wicked B. Havior, a son of Unbridled's Song, was away from the races for more than two years because of a soft-tissue injury following back-to-back victories at the Meadowlands in the fall of 2006 for trainer Greg Sacco.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The first stakes race of the meet, next Saturday's $50,000 George Royal, is shaping up to be a great race. The 6 1/2-furlong George Royal drew a strong list of nominations that includes two-time Sovereign Award winner True Metropolitan, Spaghetti Mouse, and Krazy Koffee. With $857,796 in the bank, Spaghetti Mouse is the all-time leading B.C.-bred money winner. Krazy Koffee was the horse of the year in British Columbia last year.
The champion sprinter in the province for the past two years, B R Remark, also is expected to run.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Roger Attfield is a legend in his native Canada for a reason. The 69-year-old trainer has made the occasional splash in the United States, too, just as he did Friday by sending out the one-two finishers in the closing-day feature at Keeneland, the Grade 3, $200,000 Elkhorn Stakes.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Michael Pino, who was based here through the latter weeks of 2008 and set up a full-time division here this spring, will be looking for his first local stakes win Sunday.
Pino's ace is Heart of a King, a Kentucky-bred 3-year-old gelding who will be facing six rivals in the $150,000 Woodstock at six furlongs.
Heart of a King is owned by David Ross, who also has horses with Pino at Delaware Park and with Daniel Smithwick in Kentucky.
