ARCADIA, Calif. - Ten Meropa, the winner of the Grade 3 Baldwin Stakes last Sunday in his U.S. debut, may start in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 5 and is an outside candidate for the Kentucky Derby, co-owner Joe Masino said on Wednesday.
Masino, who races under the name Class Racing Stable, owns Ten Meropa with Tom Arndt's A&R Stable.
"If he makes it to the Derby that would be great," said Masino, who was at Santa Anita on Wednesday morning, checking on his horses.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jonesboro appears to be sitting on a peak effort heading into the Grade 3, $150,000 Razorback Breeders' Cup at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. He worked five furlongs in a bullet 59.60 seconds in his final prep for the 1 1/16-mile race, which will be the third start of his form cycle.
Catscape, a $15,000 claim last summer at Ruidoso Downs, has the fastest qualifying time to the Grade 2, $65,000 West Texas Maturity on Saturday at Sunland Park.
Catscape ran the 400 yards in 19.059 seconds to win the third of three trials by a neck. Since the claim, he also has run third in the Grade 1 Bank of America Texas Challenge.
The 20th Quarter Horse meet at Remington Park, which begins Friday night, will not only offer record daily average purses of $200,000, but also will dramatically increase the purse of the Gradeo1 Heritage Place Futurity, to an estimated of $1.1 million.
The previous record daily purse distribution was $158,580 in 2007, and the previous record purse for a race at Remington Park was $677,365 for the 2006 Heritage Place Futurity.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Chicagoans can't stop talking about it: Actual winter finally returned to the Windy City after a long absence. Regular snowstorms and lingering cold snaps blew in throughout the second part of January and much of February - perfect timing for Hawthorne Race Course.
In a shift from last season, Hawthorne raced two weeks into January and pushed back its spring opener from Feb. 23 in 2007 to March 7 this year. The longer fall-winter meet was meant to entice local horsemen to stick around through the dark period, which seemed to work.
Beulah Park canceled racing Wednesday due to poor track conditions. It was the fourth straight racing day canceled at the Grove City, Ohio, racetrack.
After two days of heavy rains, the temperature dropped and an inch of snow fell on Wednesday.
Saturday's card was canceled after the second race because the track thawed unevenly. Racing was canceled Monday as the track continued to thaw from temperatures that hovered in the mid-60s, and Tuesday because of poor track conditions.
Beulah Park canceled racing Tuesday for the third consecutive racing day due to poor track conditions. Saturday's card was canceled after the second race because the track thawed unevenly. Racing was canceled Monday as the track continued to thaw from temperatures that hovered in the mid-60s.
Two inches of rain fell Monday night, causing the already muddy track to become unusable.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It took Mike Mitchell only three months to transform Ever a Friend from $62,500 claimer to Grade 1 winner, and the trainer attributes the gelding's rapid improvement to the Cushion Track at Hollywood Park, and stretching to two turns.
Ever a Friend blazed a mile on turf in 1:33.37 Saturday at Santa Anita, winning the Frank Kilroe Mile by nearly four lengths with a final quarter-mile in a shade over 22 seconds. According to Mitchell, the turn of foot was partly the result of workouts on the forgiving Hollywood surface.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Hystericalady's road back to the Breeders' Cup Distaff is scheduled to run through Oaklawn. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said earlier this week that the mare is being pointed for the Grade 3, $175,000 Azeri Breeders' Cup, a 1 1/16-mile race Sunday that serves as the final local prep for the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The El Camino Real Derby wasn't on trainer Dean Pederson's radar three weeks ago. But his rapidly improving 3-year-old Pleasure Grounds now seems to have the best chance of any locally based runner in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 race at 1 1/16 miles.
Pleasure Grounds has run five times, with three wins and a pair of seconds, including a second in the six-furlong Stinson Beach Stakes on Jan. 5 at Golden Gate Fields. He won his first try around two turns in a one-mile $32,000 optional claimer here Feb. 15.