STICKNEY, Ill. - The entries just kept coming for Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Illinois Derby, and when the race finally closed mid-Monday afternoon at Hawthorne, a surprisingly large field of 11 had been assembled.
Seven or thereabouts had been expected over the weekend, but several other horses materialized Monday, adding to the race's core of Musket Man, Giant Oak, and whatever trainer Todd Pletcher was sending.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The stewards' decision to disqualify Big Drama from first to second in last Saturday's Swale Stakes cost trainer David Fawkes and owner Harold Queen both a Grade 2 victory and the majority share of a $150,000 purse. But the afternoon wasn't a total loss. Big Drama's connections still came away with a track record and the satisfaction of knowing their colt should be a major player in the 3-year-old division.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Imperial Council will be given the best chance by most handicappers to upset probable odds-on favorite I Want Revenge in Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. On Sunday, trainer Shug McGaughey did his best to have Imperial Council ready for the challenge by having the colt work a sharp half-mile at the Payson Park training center in Florida.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jockey Julien Leparoux, the nation's fourth-leading rider in mount earnings with $3.3 million just three months into 2009, will be shooting for a rich double at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. He is scheduled to ride Acoma in the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom and It's a Bird in the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap.
ARCADIA, Calif. - For now, the conversations in racing rightfully focus on the build-up to the Triple Crown. By this summer, trainer Ron Ellis is hoping that Rail Trip, the unbeaten 4-year-old colt, will be part of national discussions.
Rail Trip makes his stakes debut in Saturday's $85,000 Santana Mile, on the undercard of the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby program. Owned by Mace and Samantha Siegel, Rail Trip will be favored in the Santana Mile, a race that Ellis and the Siegels chose over Saturday's $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap in Arkansas.
Silent Cash Dasher made history at Remington Park on Sunday night when the 16-year-old became the oldest Quarter Horse to ever start in a race in the United States. He finished a troubled seventh in a 250-yard allowance won by Quickid Corona. Silent Cash Dasher won three races last year at 15.
Gary Earp of Jay, Okla., owns and trains Silent Cash Dasher. The horse has won 18 of 82 starts during his career, which was launched in 1997.
True Course made his first two-turn start a winning one when he was prominent throughout to take the $50,000 B-Connected on Sunday's closing-night card at Delta Downs in Vinton, La. The one-mile race was one of two restricted stakes on the card. Ruling Class wired the field in the $50,000 Lookout.
True Course ($14.20) tracked the pace, then went on to a 1 1/4-length win over Grand Traverse. Iram Diego rode the winner for Bertram and Elaine Klein and trainer Steve Margolis.
Gabby's Golden Gal continued her rapid development for trainer Bob Baffert on Sunday afternoon, dominating five rivals in the $200,000 Sunland Park Oaks by 13 expanding lengths. One for Jim finished a distant second, followed by Century Park, who is also trained by Baffert.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Quality Road established himself as a leading Kentucky Derby candidate by turning back the previously undefeated Dunkirk through the stretch to win Saturday's $750,000 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in track-record time.
Quality Road ($4.40), who had to survive a claim of foul by Kent Desormeaux, the rider of third-place finisher Theregoesjojo, completed 1 1/8 miles 1:47.72. His time was .07 of a second faster than Brass Hat's previous mark, set winning the Donn Handicap in 2006. It was the second course record set on Saturday's card.
