Thu, 05/22/2008 - 00:00

Anne's Purse taking jump up

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Last year, trainer Earl Barnett orchestrated a productive campaign for You Will Love Me that included a victory in the Lady Angela. This year, Barnett is hoping for similar success with Anne's Purse, who will make her second start in Saturday's $125,000 Lady Angela for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies.

Thu, 05/22/2008 - 00:00

Monterey Jazz out of Met Mile

Monterey Jazz, eight-length winner of the Grade 3 Texas Mile on April 25, came out of a Wednesday workout at Hollywood Park with tightness in his hind end and will not run in Monday's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, trainer Craig Dollase said Thursday.

On Wednesday, Monterey Jazz worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 at Hollywood Park. He was expected to be flown from California to New York on Friday.

"Bad timing," Dollase said. "We're going to send him up to the clinic; we can't really pinpoint what it is. But we didn't feel right putting him on a plane."

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 00:00

Going Ballistic likely for Turf Cup

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Going Ballistic is being pointed toward the Grade 3, $200,000 Dallas Turf Cup and highweight Medici Code will take a pass on the race, their respective connections said Wednesday. The Dallas Turf Cup is one of six stakes worth a cumulative $1.1 million at Lone Star Park on Monday.

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 00:00

Ever a Friend to run, then rest

NGLEWOOD, Calif. - Regardless of whether he wins or loses Monday's Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park, race favorite Ever a Friend will gain a vacation.

With an eye on the Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting on Oct. 25, trainer Mike Mitchell said that Ever a Friend is unlikely to race this summer before resuming his career in the fall.

"I've got to give him some time," Mitchell said. "He hasn't had a break. He trains hard and every day he goes hard. You've got to try to keep a horse fresh."

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 00:00

Kentucky Bear targets Colonial Cup

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Kentucky Bear is settling in at Woodbine following his sixth-place finish in last Saturday's Preakness at Pimlico.

After enduring a trip that merited adjectives including "nightmarish" and "brutal," Kentucky Bear turned out to have an even greater problem that was not visible to the naked eye.

"He got a cut on his leg," said Reade Baker, who trains Kentucky Bear for owner Danny Dion.

"Someone stepped on his hind shoe and bent it down and in, over an inch. I don't know how he ran on that. I don't even know how he could walk on it."

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 00:00

Keith Desormeaux eyes Triple of his own

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Besides racing, summer activities in the Arlington Park area can seem thin. Sure, a tour might be arranged of the Cook County Courthouse across the street. Three-quarters of a mile west of the courthouse, one could fish for carp in a little stream that runs through a suburban park.

Okay - the Louisiana-based trainer Keith Desormeaux did not open up a tiny Arlington Park string this summer for local entertainment value. No, Desormeaux came here to run Gangbuster on the Arlington Park grass course.

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 00:00

West Texas gang in futurity trials

The summer Ruidoso Downs season starts on Friday afternoon with juveniles competing in the 12 trials to the Grade 1, $500,000 Ruidoso Futurity. Some of these 2-year-olds also may qualify for the closing-day Grade 1, $2 million All American Futurity.

Leading the hopefuls in the 350-yard Ruidoso Futurity trials are seven of the 10 finalists who raced in the Grade 1 West Texas Futurity at Sunland Park.

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 00:00

Foreleg injury sidelines Panty Raid

ELMONT, N.Y. - The multiple Grade 1 winner Panty Raid will be out of training until at least late summer with an injury to the suspensory ligament in her right foreleg, trainer Todd Pletcher said Wednesday.

The problem was diagnosed on Monday, one day after Panty Raid worked four furlongs in 50.06 seconds over a soft Belmont Park turf course preparing for a scheduled start in Saturday's Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay Handicap at Belmont.

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 00:00

Former track official returns as owner

From 1996 to 1999, Matt Kingdon was the head of the Prairie Meadows simulcasting department, and under his guidance the exportation of the Prairie signal resulted in handle numbers that had never been reached before and have never been matched since.

Spring forward almost 10 years and Kingdon is back with another title - horse owner. He and Mike Richards, another first-time owner, formed the M&M stable, and their first horse, Makepeace, circled the field and won by a widening two lengths in an optional claimer at Prairie on May 10.

Wed, 05/21/2008 - 00:00

Coughlin starts off with hot hand

Trainer Dan Coughlin is off to a strong start at the Lincoln meet, saddling 5 winners from his 12 starters in the opening two weekends of racing at State Fair Park.

Last Sunday, Coughlin won three races: the sixth with Confederate Bond ($5.20), the seventh with Booming Along ($5), and the eighth with Musical Smoke ($8.80). Luis Ranilla was aboard for the wins on Confederate Bond and Musical Smoke, while Yuri Yaranga had the mount on Booming Along. The triple boosted Coughlin into first place in the trainer standings.