HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The 3-year-old filly division at Oaklawn that includes the undefeated Grade 2 winner Pure Clan and 13 1/2-length Martha Washington Stakes winner Eight Belles keeps getting stronger.
Alina, who earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100 last weekend when she won the $75,000 Green Oaks at Delta Downs, is being pointed to the Grade 2, $250,000 Fantasy here on April 6.
The 2008 stakes schedule released Friday for Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack is nearly identical to its list from a year ago.
The same 17 stakes, all but four restricted to New York-breds, will be offered, with only one switch in the order.
The Genesee Valley Breeders' Handicap, for statebreds 3 and up going 1 1/16 miles, has been moved from mid-September to the third week in August, flip-flopping with the Jack Betta Be Rite Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile race for statebred fillies and mares.
The New York Racing Association on Friday received a fourth short-term extension to continue racing at Aqueduct while the details of its 25-year franchise extension with the state are being finalized.
The New York State Non-Profit Racing Association Oversight Board voted 4-0 during a video conference call Friday morning to grant NYRA the extension through April 27, closing day of the Aqueduct spring meet. A previous extension was set to expire at the end of racing Friday.
Officials of Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns Thistledown, have set a March 17 deadline for the Ohio division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and the track to reach an agreement on 2008 racing dates. Representatives of Thistledown and the horsemen's group met on Wednesday but were unable to agree on how many dates the Cleveland-area track would run this year. Negotiations continued on Thursday.
Because of an overwhelming number of entrants in trial races for the $200,000 Oklahoma Futurity and the $125,000 Oklahoma Derby, Remington Park will card 15 races on Saturday and begin its card at 4:45 p.m. Central, rather than the usual 6:25 p.m. The card is the largest at Remington Park since May 10, 2002, when 20 races were run.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Over the past two years, Neko Bay has threatened to become a top horse. Problem is, every time he appears ready to do something important, he disappears.
Neko Bay has compiled as many wins (three) as layoff lines in his six-race past performances. But sooner or later, the 5-year-old might put together an entire season for trainer John Shirreffs and owners Jerry and Ann Moss. If he does, look out.
"We've been very patient with him, hoping we can have a big campaign," Shirreffs said. "This would be the year."
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Blue Grass is out and the Florida Derby has suddenly become the next target for Big Brown, the undefeated and as yet unchallenged 3-year-old sensation who took south Florida by storm Wednesday after cruising to a 12 3/4-length allowance victory at Gulfstream Park.
The Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby will be run March 29.
Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said leaving the winner's circle Wednesday that the timing and Keeneland's Polytrack surface would be best suited for Big Brown's next start. But a few hours later, those plans had changed.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Nick Zito said Wednesday that in all likelihood Fountain of Youth winner Cool Coal Man will skip the $1 million Florida Derby and instead use Keeneland's Blue Grass Stakes as his final Kentucky Derby prep.
Cool Coal Man is perfect in two starts over the local strip, having won an entry-level allowance race prior to his half-length victory over Elysium Fields in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. Both those wins came at the same 1 1/8-mile distance as the Grade 1 Florida Derby.
A quarter-mile into the seventh race last Friday at Fair Grounds, an older maiden named Visible Truth was locked in a heated pace battle after breaking from the rail in a six-furlong sprint. Visible Truth had raced once before, starting more than a year ago in California. Horses with speed coming back from long layoffs are notorious for going too fast and coming up short. Given their head for the first time in a long time, they tend to run themselves silly.
