OZONE PARK, N.Y. With the temperature taking a nosedive in the New York area, trainer Billy Turner envisions Dry Martini becoming a winter warrior at Aqueduct.
Dry Martini earned his first win in four starts for Turner on Saturday, pulling away to a decisive win in the Grade 3 Stuyvesant Handicap at the foggy and muddy Big A.
The victory did not surprise Turner after the 5-year-old gelding rallied for fifth in his previous race, the Knickerbocker Handicap on the turf at Belmont Park.
The mere fact that Patrick Valenzuela and Francisco Torres both were riding at Fair Grounds seemed almost newsworthy. Who knew that after one racing week the pair would be one-two in the jockey standings?
Valenzuela won stakes races last Friday and Saturday for trainer Bill Mott, and his three wins were more than any other rider heading into the Fair Grounds' card Sunday. That's when Torres stepped up, winning four of the afternoon's 10 races to take a 5-4 lead over Valenzuela after three days of racing in New Orleans.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Cost of Freedom, the Grade 1-winning sprinter, was not permitted to be entered in Saturday's $100,000 Vernon Underwood Stakes at Hollywood Park after failing a physical examination on Wednesday regarding soundness.
Cost of Freedom worked five furlongs in 1:00 at Hollywood Park on Wednesday, but did not jog to the satisfaction of state veterinarian Tom Connor after the workout. As a result, Cost of Freedom remained on the state veterinarian's list and is banned from racing for at least 10 days.
M J's Enchanteur withstood early pressure from So So and survived a claim of foul to capture Tuesday night's $75,000 Sophomore Sprint Championship at Mountaineer Racetrack.
Sent to the front by jockey Josue Arce in a field reduced to four by three scratches, M J's Enchanteur ($3) dueled with So So through a half-mile in 45.27 seconds, edged clear entering the stretch, and finished 6 1/4 lengths in front of runner-up Perfectly Played.
Trained by Scott Lake, M J's Enchanteur completed the six furlongs on a track rated good in 1:11.67.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Dale Romans has won six Grade 1 races in his 22-year training career, and in virtually no time flat, he can run down the names of them all.
The 2004 Whitney Handicap with Roses in May was his first, Romans can quickly recall, "and the Shadwell with Thorn Song was my last."
Herman Jefferson Stakes winner Cronus looks for his second stakes win at Zia Park in the $60,000 King Rick Rack Stakes at 870 yards on Sunday afternoon.
Cronus made a five-wide move in the 870-yard Jefferson to win as the 5-2 favorite.
First to Ramble makes his first start at Zia Park this year after finishing third in the Grade 1 Red Cell Distance Challenge at Evangeline Downs in his latest race.
Rocky Gulch, the all-time richest New Mexico-bred Thoroughbred, was officially retired earlier this month during the New Mexico Cup card at Zia Park. He made an appearance at the track, which named a stakes in his honor.
Rocky Gulch, a 7-year-old gelding, won 18 of 38 races during his career, and earned $1,151,725.
"He's officially retired," said Larry Teague, who bred and raced Rocky Gulch.
Trainer Steve Manley is poised to win his first career training title as he leads all Hoosier Park trainers by 11 wins going into the final week of the meet.
Manley, 45, comes from a Quarter Horse background.
"My dad trained Quarter Horses, starting with barrel horses, and we had horses ever since I can remember," he said. "I started training Quarter Horses and then moved to Thoroughbreds."
Manley took out his trainer's license in 1987 at Fairmount Park. Manley was born and raised in St Louis and still calls Fairmount Park home.
Bret Calhoun, who is the fifth leading trainer by wins in North America, said he plans to have a division of horses based this winter at Oaklawn Park, which opens its meet on Jan. 16. He will join an established list of trainers that includes Larry Jones, who said Wednesday that 22 horses from his operation were scheduled to arrive in Hot Springs, Ark., on Saturday.
Calhoun could have as many as 30 horses at Oaklawn, where he had a small division in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
