Jockey Chris Landeros is a near-scratch golfer, one not to bet against on the course.
Lone Star horseplayers learned this past week not to bet against him on the racetrack, either. A 20-year-old California native and a newcomer to Texas racing, Landeros won with 7 of 27 mounts opening week and vaulted to an early lead in the rider standings.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Paulo Lobo, who trained the champion Farda Amiga earlier in this decade, is moving his stable from California to New York later this month, he said this week.
Lobo, 40, said he will move 25 horses from his current base at Hollywood Park to Belmont Park in the last week of April.
"I was thinking about this for a while," he said. "I don't have anything against California. It was a decision for me and my owners. Almost all of my owners would like to do this.
"I've been very lucky here. It's time for a change."
AUBURN, Wash. - Preparations for opening night at Emerald Downs continued this week, though one of the track's biggest personalities and most successful trainers will be missing when the 91-day season begins Friday.
Bud Klokstad, a fixture at Pacific Northwest tracks for more than 50 years, declined his Emerald Downs stall allocation and will spend the summer in Northern California, where he has 20 horses in training at Golden Gate Fields and was winning at a 26 percent clip through Sunday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - I Want Revenge, one of the top contenders for the 135th Kentucky Derby, had his first breeze over the Churchill Downs surface when going an easy half-mile Tuesday morning in 50 seconds under regular rider Joe Talamo.
Over a muddy and sealed racetrack, and with trainer Jeff Mullins watching frontside, I Want Revenge went in splits of 12.40, 24.40, and 36.80, galloping out five furlongs in 1:04.60.
"He needed to do enough to keep himself safe, because he's been tearing the barn down," Mullins said afterward. "We had to let him do a little something today."
Although there were only four confirmed entrants early in the week, the Golden Gate Fields racing office is hopeful that the field for Saturday's $75,000 Golden Poppy, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies, will flush out a little when entries are taken Wednesday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - John Campo Jr. considers himself a lucky man. That might sound weird considering he is the trainer for Paraneck Stable, an outfit currently unable to run its horses after its authorized agent, Ernie Paragallo, was charged with 22 counts of animal abuse for neglecting horses on his Center Brook Farm in upstate New York.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Two-time champion Indian Blessing, second in the $2 million Golden Shaheen for sprinters in Dubai on March 28, will make a quick turnaround for the $300,000 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on May 2, trainer Bob Baffert said.
Baffert said Indian Blessing has shown no effects of a trip to the other side of the world or her first start against males. Often, horses that compete in Dubai are given lengthy breaks, returning to racing during the summer.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Jockey Elvis Trujillo woke up Easter morning with 999 career victories. A few hours later, the up-and-coming young rider joined the 1,000-win club after taking Sunday's opening race at Gulfstream Park aboard Bahia Girl, owned by Stronach Stable.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Tyler Baze's sweep of the weekend stakes at Santa Anita did not come easily.
A day after winning the La Puente Stakes aboard Battle of Hastings, Baze guided Gotta Have Her to a nose win in the $100,000 Las Cienegas Handicap for fillies and mares.
Gotta Have Her ($13.40) overcame a stumble at the start to win the Grade 3 Las Cienegas over Reba Is Tops, a 16-1 shot. Tuscan Evening, the 3-5 favorite who was seeking her third consecutive win, finished third after leading to the final furlong.