In recent years, jockey Cody Jensen's list of accomplishments has been dominated by success at Los Alamitos. This year, Jensen is branching out.
Last month, Jensen relocated from Los Alamitos to Remington Park in Oklahoma City. He will ride there through the spring, move to Ruidoso Downs in the summer, and then return to Los Alamitos for the fall, when the track runs its most lucrative races.
For Jensen, 33, the decision to leave Los Alamitos on a year-round basis came down to opportunities.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Between the two of them, veteran trainers Spanky Broussard and Richard Hazelton have stored up enough experience to sit and tell racing stories for several weeks straight. They also both have talented Illinois-breds to start in Saturday's Illinois-bred stakes-racing extravaganza at Hawthorne.
Stalking the early pace under clever handling from rider Casey Lambert, Dos and Don'ts kicked clear in the final yards to capture Tuesday's closing day Daylight Spring Stakes at Sunland Park. Odds-on favorite Sky Jedi finished three-quarters of a length back in second followed by Accolades N Praise.
Trained by Johnnie Nall, Dos and Don'ts ($8.20) has won his last three starts, including a maiden score at Santa Anita last fall. The son of Petionville covered the six furlongs in 1:09.31 and picked up his biggest payday to increase his career earnings to over $86,000.
AUBURN, Wash. - It's still early at Emerald Downs - 27 races down and about 800 to go. But already the 3-year-old filly division is looking like Ladyledue's personal playground.
Undefeated in two starts at 2, Ladyledue is scheduled to make her 2009 debut Saturday in the $30,000 Inaugural Stakes at six furlongs. Only seven other horses were nominated. Either the division is short in numbers or they're already ducking Ladyledue.
Bonnie Jenne, who trains the front-running filly for owner Jon Sather, figures it's a numbers game more than anything else.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Mike Harrington will come out firing again this spring in 2-year-old maiden races at Hollywood Park - he entered the two morning-line favorites, Awesome Swiss and Really Uptown, in race 1 Wednesday; the filly Alpine Empire debuts in race 1 Thursday.
The babies already are declassified.
"They aren't going to be secrets when handicappers look at the Form," Harrington said. "Almost every time I worked these 2-year-olds, they black-letter worked. Unless I'm working ringers, it's safe to say they're going to be live."
The Ontario Racing Commission has upheld an appeal lodged by jockey Simon Husbands and quashed a one-year suspension handed down by the Woodbine stewards last Dec. 8.
Husbands, who had been cited for "an unsatisfactory ride" on Bug's Boy during the third race on Nov. 30, had been granted a stay of that penalty and his appeal was heard at the ORC offices on March 30-31.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Zayat Stables and Southern California-based trainer Mike Mitchell plan to invade Lone Star Park on Saturday with as many as three horses for the afternoon's series of stakes. Halo Najib is a definite for the Grade 3, $300,000 Texas Mile, while the team's undercard representatives could be Everlasting Beauty in the $50,000 Irving Distaff and Kays and Jays for the $50,000 Richland Hills.
"There's nothing that really fits them at Hollywood right now, so it's a good opportunity to send all three of them," Mitchell said Tuesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Helen Pitts said she was under the impression that her stable star, Einstein, was in a category all by himself.
"I'm almost sure I've got the only horse to win graded stakes on dirt, turf, and synthetic," said Pitts. "In fact we're just a little shy of being a Grade 1 winner on all three."
NGLEWOOD, Calif. - Brewing uncertainty accompanies the start of the three-month spring-summer race meet Wednesday at Hollywood Park, where unanswered questions seem to outnumber opening-day runners.
Only 53 horses entered the eight-race program, lighter than the track's racing secretary, Martin Panza, would have preferred. But it was not a surprise. Panza will face an uphill climb for much of the 65-day season, which runs through July 19.
