Jockey Gerard Melancon's decision to ride full time at Delta Downs for the first time since 1989 has been a lucrative one. He set a single-season record for wins by a jockey at the track last Saturday night, when he picked up his 122nd victory of the meet. Melancon also has set the mark for mount earnings in a season, with $2,440,920.
The previous season record of 121 wins was shared by Tracy Hebert and Guy Smith. The previous earnings mark of $2,415,745 had been held by Hebert.
In order to give horses more opportunities to gain black type, Philadelphia Park has added six overnight stakes worth $75,000 apiece to its spring schedule.
The first in the series, the Bensalem for 4-year-olds and up at 6 1/2 furlongs, will be run Tuesday.
The list of 31 nominees includes Xchanger, who would be making his first start since finishing fourth in the Cigar Mile last November. Xchanger, a 4-year-old colt trained by Mark Shuman, is considered probable for the Bensalem, according to Sal Sinatra Jr., Philadelphia Park's director of racing.
NEW ORLEANS - It's a sure sign a trainer is having a good meet when he claims that the rainouts have worked in his favor, and that's the kind of banner Fair Grounds season Malcolm Pierce has enjoyed.
Danceroftherealm's victory in the Bienville Stakes on Saturday was almost overshadowed by Sunday's dominating effort by Much Obliged, a 3-year-old owned and bred by Pin Oak Stud. Pierce trains them both.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Playing races close to the standard handicapping book did not always get results during opening week of the Hawthorne meet. Monday's nine-race card alone produced winners who paid $24.80, $53.60, $60.80, and $107. The early pick three was so improbable that not a single bettor hit it.
Part of this is the season. Hawthorne has been dark since early January, and many of the horses here are running for the first time after a winter break. Sheer fitness can win a race for a horse who - on paper - may look outclassed.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Rags to Riches, the Belmont Stakes winner and 3-year-old filly champion in 2007, had her first recorded workout since returning to trainer Todd Pletcher's barn at Palm Beach Downs earlier this winter when she breezed three furlongs in 38.40 seconds at the training center on Tuesday.
Rags to Riches had been sidelined with a hairline fracture of her right front pastern sustained during her second-place finish to Lear's Princess in the Gazelle Stakes in her last start as a 3-year-old.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Saturday's Grade 3, $125,000 Bay Meadows Sprint Handicap may be Northern California's most eagerly awaited race of 2008. The race has drawn five sprinters, four of them multiple stakes winners, and the fifth stakes-placed.
But the focus is on two runners: Tribesman, who has won five straight starts, including the Phoenix Gold Cup on Feb. 16 while earning a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, and Vicarino, who set a Bay Meadows track record at five furlongs despite breaking slowly last time out on Feb. 21.
Liberty Bull drew the far outside post as a lukewarm morning-line favorite in a field of 10 3-year-olds entered for the $600,000 WinStar Derby on Sunday at Sunland Park.
Liberty Bull, winner of the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park two starts back, was established as the 3-1 choice in the 1 1/8-mile WinStar Derby. Most of the other favorites drew closer to the rail, with Poni Colada (9-2) getting post 1, Winsome Charm (7-2) post 2, and Ablaze With Spirit (5-1) post 3.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Add Smooth Air to the growing list of prospective starters for the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 29.
Trainer Benny Stutts said he will pass Saturday's Tampa Bay Derby to await the $1 million Florida Derby with Smooth Air, upset winner of the seven-furlong Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park earlier in the meet. Smooth Air finished a troubled third behind Fierce Wind and Big Truck in his two-turn debut in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Autism awareness has radically changed Johnny Taboada's life since his 8-year-old son, Renzo, was diagnosed with the disease at age 2.
Autism Awareness has also radically changed Taboada's life since scoring the biggest upset in the 27 runnings of the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby last Saturday at Bay Meadows. The 3-year-old Autism Awareness, who didn't win his maiden until his 13th start, won the 1 1/16-mile El Camino Real in his next start, returning $126 for a $2 win bet.
Denis of Cork, who closed as the 12-1 fourth choice in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, will bypass the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel at Oaklawn Park on Saturday and start next in either the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct or the Grade 2, $500,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne, said his trainer, David Carroll. Both races will be run April 5 at 1 1/8 miles.