HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Gulfstream Park fall session ends Sunday, but management has opted to disburse the Rainbow 6 carryover one day earlier. The pool will be a modest one, likely sitting at approximately $400,000 if it is not taken down on Thursday or Friday, with the final total perhaps in the vicinity of $2 million by the time the final 20-cent Rainbow 6 tickets are punched prior to Saturday’s fifth race.
The New Jersey Racing Commission on Wednesday approved 71 live racing dates for Monmouth Park next year, with 11 of those proposed dates taking place for an all-turf meet at the Meadowlands.
While the award is a return to normal for the Thoroughbred racing calendar, the 71-date schedule is nine more racing dates than were awarded for 2020. The 60 live racing dates for Monmouth will be run from May 7-Sept. 17, while the all-turf meet at the Meadowlands is scheduled for Sept. 23-Oct. 29, running only on weekends.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Nominations have been released for the six closing-week stakes at Churchill, most notably a list of 22 for the Grade 1, $750,000 Clark, which is set for next Friday, Nov. 26. Maxfield and Midnight Bourbon are expected to clash in the 1 1/8-mile Clark, but beyond those two and Code of Honor, Dr Post, and Happy Saver, it’s unclear who else might show. Brad Cox said “doubtful” for his two nominees, Night Ops and Plainsman, while the trainers of other would-be contenders such as Independence Hall, King Fury, and Dennis’ Moment have been eyeing other races at Aqueduct.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Matera didn’t exist in the same realm as Knicks Go and Essential Quality during yet another breakthrough season for trainer Brad Cox, but give her another 10 years or so.
Like those two Cox superstars of 2021, Matera is headed to the breeding shed, where her impeccable pedigree makes her a highly prized commodity. The gray daughter of the world-class sire Tapit was produced by Miss Macy Sue, “and that makes her a half-sister to Not This Time and Liam’s Map,” said Cox, referring to two of the hottest young sires in the industry.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is not only running away with the training title, he also has another potential star on his hands, the undefeated 2-year-old Of a Revolution, who cruised to an easy allowance win in his second career start on Saturday while defeating a field that included the highly regarded Simplification, who finished a very disappointing third as the prohibitive 1-5 favorite.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The final week of the fall meet opens with an eight-race program on Thursday topped by a $53,000 allowance dash for fillies and mares that lured a field of seven led by Loriloupies, who exits an easy 4 1/2-length victory against lesser allowance opposition two months earlier.
Loriloupies will break from the rail under Edgard Zayas and figures to be part of a fairly lively pace that could also include Music City Star and Compensate.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Chantal Sutherland began her riding career in 2000, and despite some interruptions along the way has 1,155 victories, 22 of those in graded stakes, and over $55 million in purse earnings on her résumé. But despite those impressive numbers, Sutherland said she’s never been more motivated, or ridden any better, than she is at the present time.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It would’ve been a great day anyway for Norm Casse, one of the best he has ever experienced in a lifetime on the racetrack. Two winners, both in six-figure allowances at Churchill Downs, is exceptional for most any trainer.
Except he wasn’t there. Casse was in a Louisville hospital, poised to revel in the most joyous occasion of his 38-plus years. Shortly after the Friday races at Churchill, about 6:45 p.m. Eastern, Casse was with his wife, Gabby Gaudet, when their first child, Crew Edmond Casse, was born.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Mutamakina and La Dragontea, the one-two finishers in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor on Oct. 17 at Woodbine, are both being pointed to the Grade 3, $400,000 Long Island Stakes, on Nov. 27 at Aqueduct, trainer Christophe Clement said.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainers Richard Baltas and Ian Kruljac both were fined by Del Mar’s stewards and ordered to “complete a certified course in anger management” in rulings handed down Sunday stemming from incidents earlier this year at Santa Anita.
Baltas was fined $1,000 after disobeying orders from both an examining veterinarian and a security officer on March 3.
Kruljac, son of trainer Eric Kruljac, was fined $500 for discourteous language directed at an examining veterinarian on April 4.
Both were ordered to complete their courses within 90 days.
