The career of apprentice jockey Junior Chacaltana is heating up. He cracked the top 10 in the Sam Houston Race Park rider standings last week, after recording a double on Sunday and a triple on Feb. 9. The 22-year-old native of Lima, Peru, launched his riding career last July, with the support of trainer Brent Davidson. Other high-percentage horsemen he is riding for this meet include Danny Pish and Randy Mayfield.
Lone Star Park's meet for Thoroughbreds does not open until April 10, but there will be some live racing at the track before then. Training races are scheduled to be run at the Grand Prairie, Texas, track next Wednesday. There is also a training-race program scheduled for March 12. The races will begin at 11:30 a.m. Central.
The second weekend of the season around Fonner Park always seems to bring up the name of Leaping Plum, as it is hard to mention the Grasmick Stakes without bringing up the horse who won it seven consecutive times. In all, Leaping Plum won 15 stakes over this five-eighths-mile oval, more than any other horse.
Slowly closing in on his mark is Tonight Rainbow, a 9-year-old gelding who has won eight Fonner stakes. He is expected to return for his sixth consecutive appearance in the Grasmick, a race he won in 2004, 2006, and 2007.
Although the full stakes schedule for 2008 has yet to be finalized, a preview of what Penn National Race Course intends to offer for Pennsylvania-bred and -sired horses is available at the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association's website (www.pabred.com).
The tentative lineup includes 11 stakes, all worth $75,000, a significant increase from the typical $40,000 purses that statebreds competed for in the past.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Johnny Eves was compromised by an interrupted training pattern and a botched final workout prior to his dull fourth-place finish last Saturday in the Grade 2 San Carlos Handicap, and trainer Jay Robbins is confident the Grade 1-winning sprinter can rebound when he makes his next start in Kentucky.
"His last work got screwed up on the training track," Robbins said, referring to a five-furlong drill in a slow 1:02.80.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sea of Pleasure's owner Steve Burnett was already flying back to Southern California after his colt's impressive victory in Saturday's Sophomore Sprint at Bay Meadows when his post-race thinking came into focus. Burnett, who heads a group that owns the speedy colt, is already thinking about running Sea of Pleasure in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Sea of Pleasure, who won for the third time in four starts, found himself trailing a horse early for the first time in his career when Run Brother Ron shot past him down the backstretch and opened a three-length lead.
Play a quick game of "Name that Horse." This horse earned more than a million dollars last year. He came within a head of winning the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes. Still need help? His name begins with a Z.
Even with all those clues, how many racing fans could come up with the answer? It's Zanjero.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Majestic Warrior is diving right into the fire. Last year's Hopeful Stakes winner, who has not raced since suffering his first loss in the Champagne Stakes, Majestic Warrior will make his first start of the year against Risen Star Stakes winner Pyro in the Grade 2, $600,000 Louisiana Derby on March 8, trainer Bill Mott said Tuesday.
"He's ready. I think he's doing good," Mott said while observing the string of horses he has at Gulfstream Park. "Of course there's a couple of others going to that race who are doing pretty good, too."
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Denis of Cork handled a number of new variables with composure Monday, when he ran arguably his best race to date in winning the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest at Oaklawn. He tackled the step up to stakes company, shipping to run for the first time, and a surface new to him, all while earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 96.
It was an all-California trifecta in the $100,000 Phoenix Gold Cup at Turf Paradise on Saturday. Heavy favorite Idiot Proof got toppled as second choice Tribesman ($8.80) continued his ascent with a smart win in the meet's marquee event. Idiot Proof finished just a head in front of Sailors Sunset, who rallied from well back for third in the field of nine.