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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
OPELOUSAS, La. - Two young riders scored important victories this past week at Evangeline Downs.
Apprentice jockey Anna Roberts picked up her first career riding victory last Wednesday night, cruising home on 3-2 favorite King of Mardi Gras in the evening's ninth race. King of Mardi Gras, trained by Jorge Lara, won for the 16th time from 60 starts.
"I'm obviously thrilled," said Roberts following the race. "It is like a dream come true."
Since the Sunland Park Derby was introduced in 2003, track officials have taken aggressive steps to try and get the race graded status. Their ship might have come in last Saturday. Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby at 50-1 one start after finishing fourth in this year's $800,000 Sunland Park Derby.
"Hopefully his win, coupled with the performances of some of the other horses that came out of the race, will earn enough points to get us graded this year," said Harold Payne, general manager of Sunland. "We've got some depth and quality coming out of the race."
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Mike Stidham doesn't want to let Tizaqueena out of his sight.
"She's right here, in my office with me," Stidham said Tuesday morning, reached at his Arlington barn.
Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but Tizaqueena no doubt occupies a prime spot in the Stidham barn after winning the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. That victory made Tizaqueena 3 for 3 in 2009, 3 for 3 on turf, 5 for 6 in her career, and was her first graded stakes win.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The 2-year-old filly Smooth as Candy will begin her career in the shadow of her full brother Chocolate Candy, even if he is 2,500 miles away.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Tuesday at Hollywood Park that Smooth as Candy (by Candy Ride out of Crownette) will arrive here later this month after early breezes at Rancho Paseana in Rancho Santa Fe.
Meanwhile, Chocolate Candy shipped Tuesday to New York and will train up to the Belmont Stakes after finishing fifth in the Kentucky Derby.
