INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Diamond Diva seemed to be going through the motions of a comeback from a 10-month layoff until she worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 at Santa Anita last Sunday.
In that workout, trainer Jim Cassidy saw clues that Diamond Diva was back to her 2008 form, which resulted in three stakes wins. One of those wins came in the Grade 3 Wilshire Handicap, a title that Diamond Diva will attempt to defend on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Galloping Gulch will make his next start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lone Star Derby following a recent allowance win at Lone Star Park, said his trainer, Steve Asmussen.
Asmussen also has Uno Mas pointing for the Lone Star Derby. Other early probables for the 1 1/16-mile race on May 9 include Kelly Leak, the winner of the $800,000 Sunland Park Derby, and Terrain, who was third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby.
INGLEWOOD, Calif.-There are two carryovers at Hollywood Park on Friday, the next day of racing there.
A lack of winning favorites on Wednesday's card created a pick six carryover of $64,925. There is also a carryover of $51,166 in the $1 super high five, which requires bettors to correctly select the first five finishes of the final race.
Bettors will have to wait until Friday to have a crack at those bets. Hollywood Park does not have a program on Thursday. The track was unable to fill entries for Thursday earlier this week.
Former trainer and jockey agent Elza McKay, 63, died Monday in Columbus, Neb. McKay suffered a stroke in the early part of this decade that left him in a wheelchair. He died at a care facility after recently being transferred from the hospital in Grand Island.
Former owner Eldon Benson, 71, died April 26 at St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island, Neb., following a long battle with cancer. Services were set for Thursday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Grand Island.
Benson campaigned several horses in the 1980s and 1990s with his son, trainer Jeff Benson, under the name J E B Stables. Of note was his multiple stakes winner Magnum G. I., who captured the 1990 Ak-Sar-Ben Laddie Stakes, the 1991 Nebraska Derby at Fonner, and the 1992 Grand Island Eagles Handicap, also at Fonner.
Northlands Park opens its 96-day meet on Friday, and for the first time will host the entire live major racing season in Alberta. Closing day is Oct. 25.
Traditionally, Stampede Park, in Calgary, held the spring dates. Between the two tracks 111 days were scheduled in 2008, 61 of which were run at Northlands.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Nowhere to Hide has won just once in eight starts, and was taken out of consideration for the Kentucky Derby after finishing fourth in the Illinois Derby on April 4. But after he learned on Wednesday morning that Win Willy was out of the race and a spot was available in the Derby field, trainer Nick Zito phoned owner Leonard Riggio from Churchill Downs and said, "You've got to enter."
AUBURN, Wash. - Starbird Road is back and will try this summer to make his case as one of the great sprinters in Northwest racing history. But to prevail Sunday in the $30,000 Seattle Handicap at Emerald Downs, Starbird Road will have to overcome a 23-month sabbatical and a stellar group of older horses that has done just fine without him.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Rachel Alexandra stood out from the moment she arrived at Diamond D Ranch in Lone Oak, Texas, to be begin her initial training stages in August 2007. And it wasn't just because of the yearling filly's strapping size, her big stride, or the unique blaze that runs down her face.
"Her mother was tough to break, and when Rachel showed up she had that shark eye, that big white eye on her, and I said, 'Oh my goodness, this is going to be fun,' " said Jimmy Dodwell, who manages Diamond D for his semi-retired father, Ed Dodwell.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The head of the state's horsemen's representative and Hollywood Park officials differ on how to address the shortage of race-ready horses that resulted in the cancellation of Thursday's card because of insufficient entries.
Drew Couto, the president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said on Wednesday that he will recommend that Hollywood Park adopt a four-day racing week, eliminating one day a week. Track president Jack Liebau said he is hoping to continue to race five days a week.
