After losing part of the last two Friday cards because of winter weather, Hawthorne canceled its entire Sunday program because of unseasonable warmth.
Temperatures in the mid-50s made mush of Hawthorne's track surface, which two days earlier had been frozen. The decision to scrap racing Sunday came as a mutual decision between track management and jockeys, according to parties in both camps.
ockey Eddie Razo said the track looked usable at 11:30 Sunday morning, but quickly deteriorated.
Nordic Gaming Corp., the owner and operator of Fort Erie Race Track, told employees at a meeting Monday that it appears the racetrack will not be able to continue live racing next year.
Darryl Wells, Fort Erie's director of media communications, said a total of 190 people involved with the horse racing side of the Fort Erie operation were told their employment would be terminated as of March 31, 2009.
"Notice was needed, and we had to come up with a date, to meet with labor regulatory rules," Wells said of the Monday announcement.
Joe Allen and trainer Joel Marr are still leaning toward retiring the undefeated Peppers Pride after a two-hour meeting Monday morning, but the career performance she turned in while winning her 19th consecutive race Sunday at Sunland Park has given them reason to pause.
"I think we're probably going with our original plan," Marr said, but "it sure has had an affect on the decision for a little while here. We'll cool off in a day or two."
"Just when you think you're ready to make decisions, and then, golly, things change," quipped Allen, who bred and owns Peppers Pride.
ALBANY, Calif. - Golden Gate Fields winds up its fall meeting this week with the $75,000 Gold Rush Stakes on Saturday.
The one-mile stakes for 2-year-olds is a perfect send-off for the fall meet and will serve as a stepping-stone to the $100,000 California Derby at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 17 and the Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 14.
Six runners are confirmed for the race, and four others are considering it.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The two-race winning streak that Chocolate Candy has compiled this fall has left owner Jenny Craig and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer anxious for 2009.
The 2-year-old colt won his stakes debut in the Real Quiet Stakes at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8 and makes his graded stakes debut in the $750,000 CashCall Futurity on Saturday, a Grade 1 at 1 1/16 miles.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Star Nicholas was quicker coming off the turn than Partywithlarryz, and that proved the difference on Sunday in the $77,275 On Trust Handicap for California-breds at Hollywood Park.
Star Nicholas ($7.60), under jockey Michael Baze, got the jump on Partywithlarryz a quarter-mile out, then held on to win by a half-length in 1:27.46 for 7 1/2 furlongs on Cushion Track. Star Nicholas then had to withstand a stewards' inquiry into the stretch run; the stewards let the result stand.
Peppers Pride is still perfect.
She won what was likely the final start of her career with style on Sunday, when she pulled away by 5 3/4 lengths in the $125,000 New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap at Sunland Park. With the victory, Peppers Pride remained undefeated in 19 starts, and pushed her earnings past $1 million.
"We're just nearly positive we're going to [retire her]," Joe Allen, who bred and owns Peppers Pride, said shortly after the win on Sunday. "It's been pretty hectic the last couple of days. We will know what our definite plans are tomorrow."
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Jess You and I, a 15-1 outsider, pulled an upset and set a track record in Saturday's $750,000 Champion of Champions for older Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos.
Jess You and I ($32.40) ran 440 yards in 20.94 seconds, becoming the first horse in track history to break the 21-second mark. The race was timed from a standing start. Ridden by Alejandro Luna, Jess You and I broke the previous record of 21.13 seconds set by the filly Blues Girl Too in the 2007 Champion of Champions.
Red Rock Creek helped his trainer, Steve Asmussen, and his rider, Luis Quinonez, close out highly successful Remington Park meets on Sunday, when he rallied from next to last to win the $75,000 Governor's Cup. The mile and a sixteenth race was one of three stakes on the final card of a meet in which Asmussen and Quinonez were clear title winners.
Borrowing Base was somewhat of a buzz horse when she ran in last month's Montauk Handicap, but a pedestrian pace and a sloppy track were her undoing as she finished sixth at 5-1 in the stakes restricted to New York-bred fillies and mares.
Not wanting her campaign to end on that note, trainer Pat Quick decided to delay a scheduled break for the mare and wheeled her back on two weeks' rest in Sunday's $82,100 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct.
Good move.
