Fair Grounds will run its first Quarter Horse meet in August, the New Orleans track announced Thursday.
State legislation that brought slot machines to Louisiana racetracks requires the racing venues to host Quarter Horse meets to help divide slot-machine revenue between different breeds in the state.
Ismael Valenzuela, better known as Milo during a career that included 2,545 wins, will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in a special ceremony at Santa Anita on Sunday evening.
Valenzuela, 73, is unable to travel to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for the annual induction ceremony on Aug. 4. Sunday's ceremony will be the first since the Hall of Fame was formed in 1955 to be held outside of Saratoga Springs, according to a statement from the Hall.
Valenzuela was elected to the Hall of Fame by the organization's Historic Review Committee.
The Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission has issued an advisory to trainer Larry Jones that a horse he trains for owner Jim Squires has tested positive for the bronchial dilator clenbuterol, the top official of the commission said Friday.
John Wayne, the executive director of the commission, said that he would have no other comment other than to confirm that the advisory was issued.
"There has been a notification of an alleged violation," Wayne said. "Because of a longstanding policy, we have no other comment at this time because the matter has not been heard."
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Arlington Park would consider boosting the purse of the July 12 Arlington Handicap in an effort to lure Curlin to Chicago for his next start, track officials said Thursday.
Trainer Steve Asmussen mentioned three possible upcoming races for Curlin in the wake of his victory last weekend in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, but on Friday basically narrowed that potential list to two: The Man o' War at Belmont Park and the Arlington Handicap, both on July 12.
AUBURN, Wash. Enumclaw Girl has shown a lot in just three races. She flashed enough precocity to win her only start last year at 2. She demonstrated enough class to win the six-furlong U. S. Bank Stakes in her first start this season. And she showed enough grit to look the talented Startjumpin Marnie in the eye through the length of the stretch before dropping a neck decision in the 6 1/2-furlong Federal Way Handicap here on May 31.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Lava Man is unlikely to try for an unprecedented fourth consecutive victory in the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup next Saturday, trainer Doug O'Neill said on Friday.
Citing the three-week gap between Lava Man's third-place finish in the Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Handicap on June 7 and the Gold Cup, O'Neill said that he was more likely to run Lava Man in the $400,000 Eddie Read Handicap over 1o1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on Julyo20.
"I'm leaning against running him," O'Neill said. "It may be a little too quick back."
MIAMI - The Calder jockey colony was short four members over the weekend, a group that included four-time local champion Manoel Cruz, after the state's Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering denied the riders their appeals of suspensions handed down by the stewards here last month.
Joining Cruz on the sidelines Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were Ray Fuentes, Pedro Monterrey Jr., and Daniel Coa. Monterrey was the hardest hit, getting eight days overall for a pair of riding infractions. The others will serve just the three days apiece.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer John Tammaro III has a turf-to-dirt strategy mapped out for Rough Road Ahead that could take the chestnut colt all the way to the $1 million Haskell Invitational.
The plan starts Sunday at Monmouth Park with the $60,000 Anderson Fowler Stakes for 3-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Bustin Stones, the undefeated New York-bred Grade 1-winning sprinter, began working toward the second half of his campaign on Friday by breezing an easy half-mile in 50.16 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
It was his first workout in nearly two months. Bustin Stones was forced to skip the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on Memorial Day after he missed some training time in early May due to an illness. His return target is now the Grade 2, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga on July 26.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Charlie Wade was a horseman from a bygone era, a do-it-yourselfer who bred, owned, and trained his entire stable. As he grew older, Wade called on Roger Thomas for assistance, and Thomas complied, working tirelessly as a stablehand for Wade for the last 10 years or so.
When Wade died in early May at age 90, five of his horses were willed to Thomas. One of them was Water Gap, an 8-year-old mare who already had raced 76 times.