HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jockey Chris Emigh swept both stakes run Friday at Oaklawn Park, when he guided Prom Shoes to an off-the-pace, upset victory in the $100,000 Fifth Season, and Palanka City to a front-running win as the favorite in the $50,000 Prima Donna.
The stakes double continued the Racing Festival of the South at Oaklawn, where at least one stakes a day is carded. The season will end Saturday with a stakes triple led by the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby.
Sandburr, a 9-year-old Sandpit gelding, kicked off the Lone Star meeting Thursday evening by winning the $50,000 Premiere Stakes, becoming the oldest winner of a black-type stakes race this year.
Jockey Cliff Berry, who won four races on the opening-night card, placed the winner just off the pace in second early, a length off of Lil Jett, who set fractions of 47.67 seconds and 1:13.03 in the mile race for Texas-breds.
Account-wagering sites were unable to take wagers on races from Lone Star Park for its opening card on Thursday night because of a dispute between the track's owner and its horsemen.
The dispute centers on the cut of wagering revenue that horsemen receive from bets placed through account-wagering sites, according to representatives of both sides. As of Friday afternoon, a blackout of the signal from the track on account-wagering sites appeared to be likely for the entire opening weekend, and perhaps beyond.
EXINGTON, Ky. - Three cheers for the best turf miler in the country. Kip, kip, hooray. Kip, kip, hooray. Kip, kip hooray.
In his first start since capturing the Breeders' Cup Mile last fall, Kip Deville picked up right where he left off by streaking to victory in the $300,000 Maker's Mark Mile on Friday before 14,056 at Keeneland.
Kip Deville won this race last year, when it was still a Grade 2. It is now a newly minted Grade 1, and became the third Grade 1 victory on Kip Deville's resume.
Woodbine has become the first Thoroughbred track in North America to use automated charting information supplied by Trakus, the wireless tracking system that involves a radio transponder in each horse's saddlecloth.
The system, which has been used to provide charting information for Standardbred races at Woodbine and nearby Mohawk Raceway since the fall of 2006, has been in use for the Woodbine Thoroughbred meeting that opened April 5.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Lyndie Wade got shut out on Thursday's card at Hawthorne. The day still rated as a rousing success.
When Wade rode a horse named Saville Hotel to a fifth-place finish in the first race here on Thursday, it marked his first start since he went down in a terrifying spill last Nov. 30 at Hawthorne. Wade was knocked unconscious, and after being put into an induced coma, he didn't wake up for several days. But Wade's recovery came about amazingly fast, and after galloping horses for several weeks at Oaklawn Park, he got back to business at Hawthorne.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Churchill Downs racing officials are listing 10 fillies as confirmed candidates for the May 2 Kentucky Oaks, while also keeping tabs on at least a dozen more.
At this early juncture, the likely favorites for the Grade 1 Oaks appear to be the Larry Jones duo of Proud Spell and Eight Belles, while other major contenders include Little Belle, Bsharpsonata, Country Star, and Ariege.
Other known Oaks candidates are Pure Clan, Awesome Chic, Kadira, and Alina, who would have to be made eligible by a $25,000 supplementary fee.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. has mapped out his training schedule to get the Florida Derby runner-up Smooth Air to the Kentucky Derby. The schedule begins with a one-mile work over his home base at Calder on Sunday morning.
"I prefer to work on Sunday rather than Saturday because the track is less crowded," said Stutts who will be participating in his first Kentucky Derby. "I've been doing that ever since I worked this horse one Saturday and he got carried to the outside fence by another worker."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Jambalaya and Sky Conqueror, the top two turf horses stabled on the grounds last season and Grade 1 winners on the road, both are back at Woodbine gearing up for their 2008 campaigns.
Sky Conqueror, winner of the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, had the edge on Jambalaya in two meetings here last year, winning the Northern Dancer after finishing second to Eccentric in the King Edward.
Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., which ran an inaugural 28-day meet last September with purses averaging approximately $325,000 per day, will run 100 days this year. The meet opens May 9, runs through Sept. 27, and is expected to have a daily purse distribution of $200,000. Purses at Presque Isle are supplemented by revenue from the racino's 2,000 slot machines.
Presque Isle Downs will run 25 stakes this year worth more than $2.5 million. Six open and six Pennsylvania-bred stakes have been added to last year's slate of 13 stakes.