LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mr. Sidney had never won a stakes, let alone a Grade 1 race. But that all changed Friday when he drove to victory in the 21st running of the Grade 1, $300,000 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland.
Ridden with confidence by Kent Desormeaux, Mr. Sidney ($8.40) looped to the lead leaving the quarter pole before turning back a sustained bid from Passager to win by a half-length.
Eight prominent riders, including four Eclipse Award winners, will compete in the inaugural Jockey Challenge at Pimlico on May 15, the day before the Preakness Stakes.
The lineup is topped by two-time reigning Eclipse Award winner Garrett Gomez and Eclipse winners Kent Desormeaux, Edgar Prado, and John Velazquez.
In addition to Prado and Desormeaux, the roster includes two other riders with roots in Maryland racing - Mario Pino and Ramon Dominguez - plus young stars Rafael Bejarano and Julien Leparoux.
Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia has suspended its clerk of scales indefinitely and suspended seven jockeys for 30 days in a ruling contending that the clerk and jockeys failed to report riding weights accurately, according to reports confirmed by the head of the Jockeys' Guild.
The suspensions were handed down on Wednesday, approximately two weeks after the Charles Town stewards said they learned of the misreported weights through footage from surveillance cameras, according to the Jockeys' Guild's president Terry Meyocks.
Travis Dunkelberger, one of the top jockeys at Charles Town, will be sidelined indefinitely after sustaining a neck injury in a spill during training hours Wednesday.
Dunkelberger, 31, will be out three to six months with a possible fracture in his neck, according to his agent, Billy Kennedy. Kennedy said the injury occurred when a horse Dunkelberger was exercising for trainer Gary Capuano broke down.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Square Eddie, who has not raced since January because of a cannon bone injury, will start in the $300,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland next Saturday as a prep for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2.
Owner Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O'Neill had considered starting Square Eddie in the Kentucky Derby off a series of workouts in March and April but have opted to start the colt in the Grade 2 Lexington Stakes after a strong six-furlong breeze April 5 at Hollywood Park.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Fatal Bullet, Rahy's Attorney, and Ginger Brew had something in common last year as the finalists for Canada's Horse of the Year award.
But the three find now themselves in different situations, as Fatal Bullet is swimming in Ocala, Fla., Ginger Brew is in training at Palm Meadows in Florida, and Rahy's Attorney is gearing up here at Woodbine.
Allen Milligan, who earlier this week was battling Steve Asmussen for the training title at the Oaklawn Park meet that was to end Saturday, got his Lone Star Park season off to a fast start Thursday night by winning the $50,000 Premiere Stakes with Upstream.
"It was a great feeling," he said of winning the traditional first race of the meet at Lone Star.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - One day after state officials took possession of 177 horses belonging to agent/breeder Ernie Paragallo because of neglect and possible animal abuse, the New York Racing Association on Thursday notified Paragallo that it has revoked his racing credentials and will not allow his family-owned Paraneck Stable to run horses here until he is replaced as the authorized agent.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Stonehouse surged on the outside to win a three-way photo over Spotsgone and Acting Zippy in the $100,000 Fifth Season at Oaklawn Park on Thursday. The 1 1/16-mile stakes continued the Racing Festival of the South, when $2.8 million in stakes are run over the final week of the meet that ends Saturday with the Arkansas Derby.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Nick Gonzalez barn got off to a quick start here last year, winning the opening-day La Voyaguese with Shilla and the following weekend's Achievement with Stuck in Traffic.
With no entrant for the La Voyageuse this year, the Gonzalez outfit would have to be content with the second half of that double and will send out three entrants in pursuit of the $100,000 Achievement here Saturday.