VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Hard work is beginning to pay off for 23-year-old jockey Ismael Mosqueira. He began his career in Mexico City before he arrived at Hastings in 2007. Until recently, Mosqueira has had a hard time finding quality mounts.
Mosqueira opened up a few eyes with his patient ride in the $50,000 George Royal Stakes aboard Seminole Brave last Saturday. It was the first stakes win locally for Mosqueira.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Signs of spring are sprouting everywhere for racing fans in the Mid-Atlantic region. The forsythia are in bloom, the Triple Crown is under way, and Monmouth Park is about to awake from its winter slumber.
Monmouth, the queen of New Jersey racetracks, kicks off its 64th season Saturday with an 11-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern for the first of 94 dates through Sept. 27.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Having proven himself once again as a top-class turf runner by successfully defending his title in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard last Saturday at Churchill Downs, Einstein will be trying to complete a hat trick of sorts in his next race.
"We're going next in the Stephen Foster," said trainer Helen Pitts.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Tale of Ekati, a multiple Grade 1 winner, has been retired from racing after three consecutive dull performances this year, trainer Barclay Tagg said Thursday.
Tagg said he can't find a physical issue with Tale of Ekati, but he believes the horse has simply lost his competitive edge.
"Seems that way," Tagg said. "He seems to be all right physically."
Friesan Fire, who finished 18th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, is on target to return in the Preakness, his connections said Thursday morning.
Coming back to be unsaddled following the Derby, Friesan Fire had blood coming from his left front foot after getting stepped on, or grabbing a quarter as it's called. However, using a paste that is prescribed for use by diabetics who have wounds that won't heal, the area has toughened up, according to trainer Larry Jones.
"It is healing extremely fast," Jones said. "We feel like there's a really good shot we can make it."
Average daily all-sources wagering on races held at Atlantic City Race Course was up 300 percent for the meet that ended May 1 because of the widespread availability of its racing signal at out-of-state sites for the first time in 10 years, according to figures provided by the track.
The average daily figure of $543,325 for six days of racing was up 303 percent from the $134,655 figure posted last year, when wagers were only accepted on-track. Total handle for the six days this year was $3,259,953, compared to $807,932 last year.
A sharp decline in total handle during Hawthorne's 2009 spring meet more than offset gains posted during the 2008 spring meet at the Chicago-area track. A year after out-of-state handle on Hawthorne races rose 5 percent, the same type of betting declined by 15 percent, leading to a 15 percent decline in total average daily handle for the 38-day Hawthorne meet that ended April 27.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sugar Bay is all dressed up with no place to go.
Sugar Bay, a 4-year-old filly trained by Mac Benson, was entered in a classified allowance here Friday. The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares, which was situated as a prep for the Nassau, offered a purse of $101,100 including Ontario-bred bonuses but did not fill for Friday and was carried over until Saturday and then to Sunday.
"She's as ready as you can get her without overdoing it," said Benson, who trains Sugar Bay for owner/breeder George Strawbridge Jr.
Saturday's scheduled running of the $75,000 Raise Your Skirts Stakes at Golden Gate Fields was canceled.
The six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares saw only one runner entered, the multiple stakes winner High Resolve, who is stabled at Golden Gate Fields but has never run there. Five of the race's nominees were entered in a Thursday allowance race at Hollywood Park.
