ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Roger Attfield has never been far from the spotlight.
But after a few relatively quiet years, Attfield has been back at center stage in 2008 and should eclipse his personal Woodbine earnings record of $4.13 million.
Heading into the final five weeks of the meet, Attfield's runners have earned $3.97 million while accounting for 12 stakes wins, giving him the lead in that category at the meeting.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Royal bloodlines never insure success on the racetrack, but when a filly such as Acoma has two graded stakes wins from her first seven starts, it's difficult not to point to her pedigree as a major factor.
Acoma (pronounced AK-uh-muh, not a-CO-ma) is by Empire Maker from a sensational female family, and trainer David Carroll, who will saddle the 3-year-old filly as one of the favorites Saturday in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere Stakes at Churchill Downs, believes class has come to the fore.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. A parade of longshots Wednesday led by 64-1 shot Blue Hill Bay resulted in a pick-six carryover of $152,918 heading into Thursdays card at Aqueduct. There was a carryover of $47,821 entering Wednesdays card after the wager went unhit Sunday.
Blue Hill Bay won the fifth race, or the second leg of the pick six, as 21-year-old Jacqueline Davis picked up her first career victory. Davis is the daughter of retired jockey Robbie Davis.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Hawthorne has gotten lucky in terms of weather, with very few turf races at this meet lost to wet conditions. But the luck might be running out this week. With a 90 percent chance of rain here Thursday night, the featured sixth race on Friday is in danger of being switched from 5 1/2 furlongs on grass to 5 1/2 on the main track.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - One's first inclination may be to think that whoever named Hawkey Star came up a bit short in the spelling department.
But Hawkey Star, the 2-year-old gelding who will make his stakes debut in Saturday's $125,000 Frost King at Woodbine, has a name that rings true on more than one level.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jacqueline Davis, the 21-year-old daughter of retired jockey Robbie Davis, earned her first career victory at Aqueduct on Wednesday, guiding Blue Hill Bay ($131) to a front-running victory in a $35,000 claiming race on the turf. She won her first race in her 33rd mount.
Davis is a graduate of the inaugural class of Chris McCarron's North American Racing Academy, based in Lexington, Ky.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Square Eddie, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita last month, is in the midst of a two-week vacation at a California farm. Although his best races have come on synthetic surfaces, Square Eddie could make his 3-year-old debut on a dirt surface, trainer Doug O'Neill said.
"He'll make his next start in the new year," O'Neill said. "We've talked about a dirt race in the campaign."
O'Neill said Square Eddie is currently based at Magali Farms in Santa Ynez, Calif., and was sent there on Monday.
Remington Park has asked the Oklahoma Racing Commission for a 67-date Thoroughbred meet for 2009. The request, as well as proposed dates from the state's three other tracks, will all be considered at a commission meeting Nov. 20.
Remington's dates request closely mirrors its current meet. The track is seeking to open on Aug. 21 and run through Dec. 13. Remington also has asked for 50 dates for Quarter Horses for next year, from March 6 through May 31.
The Texas Champions Day program of eight stakes worth $425,000 on Dec. 6 will highlight the Retama Park winter Thoroughbred meet that opens Nov. 20. The San Antonio-area track is hosting 43 of the 65 race dates that Sam Houston Race Park canceled last month because of damage to its grandstand and stable area sustained in Hurricane Ike.
Jockey Rafael Hernandez has made a big splash since arriving at Hoosier Park 3 1/2 weeks ago. The 23-year-old native of Puerto Rico had won with 25 of his 181 Hoosier mounts coming into Wednesday's card. Hernandez won the riding title this year at Fairmount Park.
"I have won riding titles at Fairmount the last four years," said Hernandez.
Hernandez went to the jockey school in Puerto Rico for two years before beginning his riding career at Tampa Bay Downs four years ago.