Bill Downes has been hired as the permanent replacement for the late Luke Kruytbosch as the race-caller at Ellis Park, officials at the Henderson, Ky., track announced Thursday.
Downes will vacate his current position at Presque Isle Downs to assume the Ellis job on Aug. 6. Ellis had planned to use several announcers during its current meet, which runs through Sept. 1, but the hiring of Downes "works for him and for us," said Mark Geary, director of development at Ellis.
Peppers Pride will break from post 3 in a field of seven in the $55,000 Lincoln Handicap at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico on Sunday, when she attempts to set a North American mark for consecutive wins. She shares the modern record of 16 with Cigar, Citation, Hallowed Dreams, and Mister Frisky.
The Lincoln is one of 10 restricted stakes worth a cumulative $1 million at Ruidoso on Sunday. It will be run at six furlongs, and it is for fillies and mares bred in New Mexico. Peppers Pride will spot her rivals from 11 to 16 pounds as the 127-pound highweight in the Lincoln.
A total of 84 horses have been pre-entered in the seven races in the 10th annual Claiming Crown series, which will be run next Saturday, Aug. 2, at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn.
Races in the Claiming Crown, which offer a total of $600,000 in purses, are run under starter-allowance conditions and are restricted to horses that have run for claiming prices ranging from $7,500 to $35,000. The richest race is the $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Johnny Eves returns from a three-month break in Sunday's $300,000 Bing Crosby Handicap over six furlongs at Del Mar. The Crosby is far from trainer Jay Robbins's goal for Johnny Eves in the second half of the year.
Even though Johnny Eves has won a Grade 1 sprint - the Malibu Stakes over seven furlongs at Santa Anita last December - Robbins has the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting on Oct. 25 as a long-term goal.
Shes Sensational has her work cut out for her when she faces Wild Promises in Saturdays $50,000 Luther Burbank Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the turf at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Shes Sensational lived up to her name in the Alameda County Fillies and Mares Handicap at Pleasanton on July 5, winning the 1 1/16-mile race by six lengths. That race was on dirt, and trainer John Martin said, Shes better on the turf.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia Forest Prince should find the 3-year-old colts and geldings he will be facing in Saturdays 6 1/2-furlong feature race at Hastings a lot easier to deal with than the horses he has faced throughout his career. Running out of the Troy Taylor barn for the first time, Forest Prince figures to be a short-priced favorite in the entry-level allowance race, which carries a $50,000 claiming option.
EDMONTON, Alberta Teagues Fight seeks his fourth stakes tally of the year against just four rivals in the $50,000 Don Fleming Handicap at Northlands Park Saturday.
The absence of arch-rival Footprint ensures Teagues Fight the role of favorite. He carries high weight of 124 pounds in the 1 1/16-mile Don Fleming, formerly run as the Klondike Handicap and renamed last year in memory of the local journalist and sportsman.
AURORA, Colo. Major Big Time is the solid choice Saturday at Arapahoe Park in the $20,000 Silver Cup Futurity. Eight juveniles who were sold at the Silver Cup sale here last Aug. 11 and remained eligible will compete in the 5 1/2-furlong sprint.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Mother Nature played the role of party pooper Wednesday as daylong rains dampened the mood on the 140th opening day at Saratoga.
The miserable conditions kept the crowd down to 18,127, compared with 30,052 who attended last year's opening day, run under pristine conditions. Wednesday, Saratoga's main track was labeled sloppy for all 10 races, and all five turf races were transferred to the main track. Last year, the main track was never labeled sloppy and only six races all meet long were moved from the turf to the dirt.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The first race on Thursday at Saratoga, a steeplechase event scheduled for 2 1/16 miles, has been canceled because of inclement weather that forced all of Wednesday's grass races off the turf, officials of the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday afternoon.
As a result, the Thursday card will begin with the originally scheduled second race, at its listed post time of 1:35 p.m. Eastern, followed by races 3 through 10, also with their original post times and numbers. Three turf races scheduled for Thursday will be run on the main track.
