The final two-week race meeting at Bay Meadows begins Wednesday, when the San Mateo County Fair meeting - better known as the Bay Meadows Fair - begins its 10-day run. The last day of racing at Bay Meadows, which opened in 1934, will be Aug. 17, confirmed F. Jack Liebau, president of the Bay Meadows Racing Association.
"I would say this is it," said Liebau, who has run Bay Meadows since 1993. "I don't have another Hail Mary left."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - While the mystery of where and when Curlin will start next was scheduled to be cleared up by majority owner Jess Jackson on a national conference call Tuesday afternoon, there is little mystery about how the reigning Horse of the Year is training.
Matt's Broken Vow, benefiting from a heads-up ride by Assiniboia's leading jockey Alan Cuthbertson, outran fellow Woodbine invader Bonanza for a 5 1/4-length victory in Monday's $100,000 Manitoba Lotteries Derby.
Owned by Robert Mitchell and trained by Josie Carroll, Matt's Broken Vow pressed the slow pace of Mr Exspeedient in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds before moving to the lead around the far turn and turning back the brief challenge of Bonanza.
"The pace was really slow; he usually lays farther back," said Cuthbertson, who won his first Manitoba Derby.
Seaside Retreat ($12.60) broke the 1 1/4-mile course record Monday at Woodbine, taking the $305,900 Nijinsky Stakes over favored Strike a Deal.
A shipper from the United States, Seaside Retreat assumed an early stalking position under Patrick Husbands in the Grade 2 event as Strike a Deal set slow fractions while being pressed along the inside by another American shipper, Independent George.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - A picture-perfect day with remarkably low humidity for summertime on the Jersey Shore, the traditional cap giveaway, and the lure of Big Brown in the Haskell Invitational produced a stellar Sunday afternoon at Monmouth Park.
Haskell Day attracted 45,132 fans, the best turnout in four years for the meet's premier event.
The total handle was a record $17,642,954, the highest for a non-Breeders' Cup card at Monmouth. It blew away the old mark of $14.1 million on last year's Haskell Day.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Earlier this year, Yankee Bravo did just enough to keep him on track for the Triple Crown races. After beginning his career on turf, he made a successful switch to dirt and synthetic surfaces, with a win in the California Derby at Golden Gate, a third-place finish in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, and a fourth in the Santa Anita Derby.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Mark Hennig was getting a little nervous as he watched a series of slow fractions posted on the tote board while Wesley was still "looking at all of them" after the opening six furlongs of Monday's National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga.
Not to worry.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Debbie England and jockey Richard Dos Ramos go back a long way, with their stakes history dating to 1989, when Diva's Debut gave the trainer her first stakes victory at the Meadowlands.
England and owner/breeder Gustav Schickedanz have only a very recent association, with their only runner being Marlang.
Robo Willie, favored at 3-4, was a dominant 3 3/4-length winner of the $50,000 Birdcatcher, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old colts and geldings at Northlands Park.
Ridden by Rickey Walcott and trained by Greg Tracy, who also teamed up to win Friday's $50,000 Bird of Pay for 2-year-old fillies with Dandy Dora, Robo Willie ($3.50) was recording his second straight stakes win after taking the six-furlong Edmonton Juvenile.
Quiet Approach finished second in the Birdcatcher, with Pure First another 1 1/4 lengths back in third in the field of eight.