Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Santa Anita pick six falls short

The Oak Tree meeting card at Santa Anita failed to reach its $1 million-guaranteed pick-six pool on Saturday, attracting $872,094 in wagers.

Oak Tree's executive vice-president, Sherwood Chillingworth, said the track had purchased an insurance policy to protect against a shortfall.

Chillingworth said the small pool was not a complete surprise, since the track had pick-six carryovers on Thursday and Friday of last week that "drained" bettors.

Chillingworth also noted that "the guaranteed pick six may have lost its glamour."

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Huge day for three

EDMONTON, Alberta - Had last Saturday's 12th Fall Classic Day been a hockey game, the three stars would have been trainer Cody Anderson, rider Real Simard, and broodmare Devil's Favour.

Anderson sent out full brothers Cool Ventura ($4.70), Cool Synsation ($2.90), and half-brother Cool Diablo ($8) to complete an improbable pure hat trick on the final three stakes races of the card, with Simard guiding each one home for owner-breeder Ab Brewster.

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Monmouth's overall handle up

A significant expansion of the Monmouth Park meet this year took a significant toll on ontrack business, but average all-sources handle figures showed a slight uptick even in the face of an inscrutable economy and declines at other summer meets, according to figures released by Monmouth on Monday.

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Stardom Bound to be sold after Breeders' Cup

ARCADIA, Calif. - Stardom Bound, the leading 2-year-old filly in the West, is scheduled to be sold at the Fasig-Tipton November select breeding stock sale in Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 2.

Before then, Stardom Bound could run in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Oct. 24. She is likely to be the favorite in that race on the strength of her wins in the Del Mar Debutante over seven furlongs on Sept. 1 and the Oak Leaf Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Frankel high on Vineyard Haven

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Bobby Frankel doesn't think Vineyard Haven got the credit he deserved for winning the Grade 1 Hopeful last month at Saratoga. Frankel said all he's heard after the race is how Cribnote would have won had he not blown the turn coming into the stretch.

"Everybody says he would have won, but who knows what [Vineyard Haven] would have done if Cribnote came to him?" Frankel said.

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Europeans arrive for International

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The European contingent for Saturday's Canadian International and E.P. Taylor is in the house, as the final four shippers checked in at about 6 p.m. Sunday.

The fields for the $2 million Canadian International and $1 million E.P. Taylor, both Grade 1 turf races, will be announced at a ceremonial draw here Wednesday.

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Marathon a good fit for Fairbanks

STICKNEY, Ill. - Hawthorne's main track during opening week played nothing like a speed palace. Closers consistently ran over tiring front-runners, no one ran especially fast, and more than one jockey termed the surface demanding. But at the finish of the Hawthorne Gold Cup on Saturday, Fairbanks and jockey Richard Migliore had 2 3/4 lengths on their nearest pursuer, and the pair still appeared to be traveling comfortably - reason for Fairbanks's connections to consider moving from the Gold Cup's 1 1/4 miles to the 1 1/2 miles of the Breeders' Cup Marathon on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Tam Lin pulls away in Kelso

Tam Lin overtook pacesetting Forefathers in upper stretch and continued on for a 4 1/4-length victory over Stalingrad in Sunday's Grade 2, $250,000 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park. It was three-quarters of a length to Operation Red Dawn in third.

The victory was the sixth from 16 starts overall and second in six starts in North America for Tam Lin, a 5-year-old Great Britain-bred son of Selkirk owned by Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's Godolphin Stable. Tam Lin's other victory in North America came in June at Belmont in the Scottish Monk Stakes.

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Zanjero's BC flight booked

FLORENCE, Ky. - Zanjero, who earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 99 and a berth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile with his 1 1/2-length triumph Saturday in the Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park, will be flown next Monday to Santa Anita, said trainer Steve Asmussen.

Although Asmussen was otherwise occupied with Curlin, who was just a few minutes away from becoming the all-time North American earnings leader by winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, Asmussen was able to sneak a peek at the Turfway simulcast.

Mon, 09/29/2008 - 00:00

Extra harrowing does trick, jocks say

ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita officials adjusted the maintenance program of its Pro-Ride main track over the weekend, drawing positive comments from two jockeys and from one trainer who has been a vocal critic of synthetic surfaces.

The track increased the number of times the surface is being harrowed after some jockeys said last week that the top was loose.