HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. Bill Couch, who served as racing secretary during the 2008 Gulfstream Park meet, has resigned the post, citing the high pressure of the job and being away from his family as the reasons for the decision. No successor has been named.
Couch, who serves in a similar capacity at Thistledown in Ohio, first came to Gulfstream as a horsemens liason at the Palm Meadows training center in 2007 before being elevated to the post of racing secretary last winter.
Keeneland Race Course announced Wednesday that its live television coverage and limited simulcasts will be provided in high definition at the fall meet in October.
Keeneland will become the first track in North America to go high-def to such an expansive degree. Races will be broadcast in HD on the infield's LED tote board, ontrack monitors, and certain HD-compatible network telecasts, such as those produced by ESPN.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Juan Rivera put an exclamation point on his high-percentage Lone Star Park meet last week with $44 winner Knights Last Cast. Thursday night, he hopes to keep his momentum rolling with In Your Eyes, who is the probable favorite in the third race.
Rivera has gone 6 for 22 with his starters at Lone Star. It is the best season he has had at the track since he saddled his first winner as a trainer in September 2004.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A first-level allowance Thursday at 1 1/4 miles on turf offers one of the most attractive wagering opportunities on the Hollywood Park card. Esporte Dos Reis makes his second start in North America after arriving from Brazil, and his trainer, Paulo Lobo, expects significant improvement over his fifth-place U.S. debut.
"He needed that race," Lobo said, adding that Esporte Dos Reis "is a big, heavy horse coming from a long layoff. I like him."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - You might not think that a horseman such as Roger Attfield, who already has recorded 311 career stakes wins, been the recipient of six Sovereign Awards as Canada's outstanding trainer, trained three Canadian Triple Crown winners, and been in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame for 10 years, could have much more to accomplish.
But Attfield, 68, will be looking to reach another milestone when he sends out Not Bourbon for Sunday's $1 million Queen's Plate.
MIAMI - Last Saturday wasn't the biggest day of Marty Wolfson's training career. But it came pretty close.
Wolfson sent out the winners of four stakes races on Calder's program, including three of the four $100,000 events that served as preps for the rich Summit of Speed card here on July 12. Wolfson, who moved into third place on the all-time stakes victories list at Calder with 45, won the Ponche Handicap with Rockerfeller, the Unbridled Stakes with Golden Spikes, the U Can Do It Handicap with Dixie Dreamer, and the $36,000 Big Bubble overnight stakes with Mysterious Pientre.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Deputiformer and Dylan's Choice both worked five furlongs here at Woodbine on Tuesday morning and are slated to be among 15 horses entered in Sunday's $1 million Queen's Plate.
The draw for the Queen's Plate, a 1 1/4-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, will take place here Thursday in the trackside tent due to soggy conditions in the usual walking-ring location.
A double-draw method will be employed, with the connections first drawing for their order of post position and then choosing their posts in sequence.
When your father is the prolific sire Storm Cat and your mother is four-time Grade 1 winner Excellent Meeting, it's important for you to win a stakes. Cougar Cat has had some close calls, and on Saturday his trainer, Ronny Werner, hopes he can "get the monkey off his back" in the $50,000 Temperence Hill at Louisiana Downs.
Cougar Cat will start as one of the top choices in the six-furlong Temperence Hill. The race shares the spotlight with a pair of turf routes for 3-year-olds, the $50,000 Pair of Deuces and the $50,000 Little Treasure.