ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Fair Grounds meeting is beginning earlier than usual this year, on Nov. 14, and trainer Malcolm Pierce has started putting together his shipping plans for his annual sojourn there.
Pierce, who fashioned a 16-for-63 record at the 2007-2008 Fair Grounds session, will send as many as 30 horses there in an attempt to better that mark this time around.
But in the meantime Pierce and his wife and assistant, Sally, will be active in the closing weeks of the Woodbine meeting.
MIAMI - After seeing pretty much the same faces week in and week out since the meet began in late April, local fans will get some fresh faces along with a taste of what lies ahead for south Florida in the coming months when Calder holds its Florida Million program here next Saturday.
One weekend you're taking a swing at a $2 million purse alongside Hollywood celebrities. The next week you've got a shot at a fat purse in a statebred stakes race with a horse making a career debut.
That's the seven-day swing facing owner Walter Downey and his Tea Party Stable. After having Fabulous Strike finish fifth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint last Saturday, Downey has State Rep going in the $50,000 Norman Hall Stakes for Massachusetts-bred 2-year-olds this Saturday at Suffolk Downs.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Total handle from all sources on the live Fort Erie meet this year, with its 80 live racing days used in a direct comparison with the corresponding number in the 84-date 2007 season, dropped 9 percent from just under approximately $71.5 million to slightly over $65 million.
Overall, the average daily handle was off $80,869 per day, a corresponding 9 percent drop.
The average daily ontrack handle declined from $81,148 to $67,757, down 16.5 percent.
Offtrack handle on Fort Erie races averaged $745,547, down 8.3 percent from last year's $813,026.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Stardom Bound, winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Oct. 24 and the clear leader of the nation's 2-year-old filly division, was sent to Kentucky Wednesday with the intention of being sold at Sunday's November selected mixed sale at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, trainer Christopher Paasch said.
Paasch and owner Charles Cono met Tuesday to discuss whether to offer Stardom Bound in the sale or retain the filly for the 2009 season.
The Texas Racing Commission on Wednesday unanimously gave approval for a portion of the canceled Sam Houston Race Park meet to be held at Retama Park near San Antonio. Plans are in place for 43 of the 65 lost dates to be run from Nov. 20 through Feb. 28, 2009. The remaining 12 dates have been canceled. The meet follows the close of the Retama season on Nov. 15.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Tom Albertrani had very little to be critical of when Criticism finished a hard-charging second to Sunshine for Life in the Grade 3 Athenia Handicap at Belmont three weeks ago.
After all, Criticism was making her first start in 10 months, running at a distance shorter than she prefers, and attempting to chase down a longshot winner who got loose on an uncontested lead.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Forgive the gray horse with the distinctive pink patch on his upper foreleg if he stares strangely at his feet loading into the gate for the Lightning Jet Handicap on Saturday at Hawthorne. It has been a long time since Fort Prado found himself in a dirt race.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - In a kinder world, trainer Scott Fairlie could have been sending out Cawaja Beach as the favorite in Saturday's $250,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Woodbine.
But with Cawaja Beach having been forced to the sidelines, Fairlie has had to go to the bench and call Milwaukee Appeal's number for the Princess Elizabeth, a 1 1/16-mile race for Canadian-bred 2-year-old fillies.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - In a kinder world, trainer Scott Fairlie could have been sending out Cawaja Beach as the favorite in Saturday's $250,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Woodbine.
But with Cawaja Beach having been forced to the sidelines, Fairlie has had to go to the bench and call Milwaukee Appeal's number for the Princess Elizabeth, a 1 1/16-mile race for Canadian-bred 2-year-old fillies.
