HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Commentator served notice he could again be a force to reckon with in the handicap division, cruising to a 14-length victory in Thursday's allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.
Commentator barely broke out of a gallop yet still posted a one-mile track mark of 1:33.71 under jockey John Velazquez. Chatain set the old standard of 1:33.87 in 2007.
Santa Anita will lose two days of racing in its attempt to fix the drainage problem with its synthetic Cushion Track, although no decision has been made on when the work will begin, track president Ron Charles said Wednesday.
Charles said four days are needed to add polymer binding material and fibers to the track, which track officials believe will allow water to pass through the surface properly. Santa Anita races Thursdays through Mondays, so if work is begun on a Monday - the most likely scenario, Charles said - the track would lose racing on Monday and Thursday.
The fall-winter meet at Hawthorne offered a measure of stability based on handle figures recorded during the season, but the track showed no signs of reversing generally downward business trends, especially ontrack betting on Hawthorne races.
Hawthorne's meet concluded last Sunday, Jan. 13, a two-week extension over typical fall-winter meets, making direct comparisons between 2006 and 2007 dicey. In general, though, betting on Hawthorne across the country stayed about the same, while ontrack handle on live racing declined about 7 percent from 2006.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Medici Code's transition from facing fellow 3-year-olds to racing against older horses in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Handicap at Santa Anita on Dec. 30 produced mixed results.
He finished third, 2 1/2 lengths behind the race-winning Daytona in the field of six, and the loss left trainer Darrell Vienna baffled. Vienna expected Medici Code to make a bigger impression in the stretch.
"He looked like he was running hard, but he wasn't going anywhere," Vienna said. "I'm just kind of puzzled."
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - A year after probable champions Curlin and Lawyer Ron won major stakes at Oaklawn Park, the top performances of this year's meet could belong to the girls.
Pure Clan is the most credentialed 3-year-old on the grounds, while Kettleoneup, High Heels, and Brownie Points are all settled in and pointing for the region's lone Grade 1 stakes, the $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap for fillies and mares on April 5.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Gary Contessa isn't sure if he bought a really good filly in Rite Moment or just one who really likes a wet track. He may not learn any more come Friday if the forecast is correct.
Rite Moment will attempt to climb the condition ladder in a second-level allowance heat over six furlongs that serves as Aqueduct's featured event Friday. The weather forecast calls for rain Thursday night into Friday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - When people talk about Oaklawn Park, they talk about 3-year-olds.
Curlin, Lawyer Ron, Afleet Alex, and Smarty Jones have won the last four runnings of the Arkansas Derby. And since their Oaklawn appearances, the horses have gone on to win nine Grade 1 stakes, including a Kentucky Derby, three runnings of the Preakness, a Belmont Stakes, and last year's $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Presious Passion gave Mary Hartmann the most important victory of her training career when he upset Calder's Grade 2 W.L. McKnight Handicap in his 2007 finale. Now Hartmann is hoping her much-improved turf specialist can come right back and give her the richest one when Presious Passion begins his 2008 campaign a week from Saturday in the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Turf.
Presious Passion tuned up for the Sunshine Turf in a somewhat unusual manner, working 1 1/8 miles over the main track in 1:55.36 under jockey Elvis Trujillo here on Wednesday morning.
Trainers Carl Nafzger and Larry Jones, who were frequent rivals last year with top 3-year-olds Street Sense and Hard Spun, will each be spending a little time in Texas in the near future. Nafzger is scheduled to be the keynote speaker during the Texas Thoroughbred Association's annual meeting and awards banquet Saturday night in Austin.
Trainer Jake Radosevich won his 1,000th race Monday with a formula that most trainers have found successful - hard work and luck.
Radosevich, 42, purchased Lucky Uncle Jake, who gave him his milestone win, just two weeks ago and the horse was making his first start for him. Lucky Uncle Jake drew off on the turn by six lengths and looked like an easy winner. But he was overtaken at the eighth pole by two others and it looked as though he was beaten until jockey Ivan Gonzalez convinced Lucky Uncle Jake otherwise, and he gamely prevailed by a neck.
