Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Norfolk attracting opportunists

ARCADIA, Calif. - With widely varying levels of expectations, Salute the Sarge, P.S.U. Grad, and Trickster Nickster have been entered in Sunday's $250,000 Norfolk Stakes at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting, attempting to take advantage of a race that has lost three leading contenders in recent weeks.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Sealy Hill DQ reversed; triple tiara is hers

Sealy Hill, disqualified from her first-place finish in the July 1 Bison City Stakes at Woodbine, has been reinstated as the winner following a day-long Ontario Racing Commission appeal hearing on Wednesday.

The decision makes Sealy Hill the first winner of the triple tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies, which was inaugurated in 1999.

Sealy Hill, owned by Melnyk Racing Stable, had been demoted to third place in the $250,000 Bison City after the stewards ruled she had lugged in under jockey Patrick Husbands and caused Quiet Jungle to steady at the eighth pole.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Assiniboia handle increases

The handle at Assiniboia Downs made across-the-board gains at the 2007 meeting, which ended last Sunday.

Total handle for the 69-day season was $7,824,090, up 8 percent from $7,244,813 in 2006, with the average daily handle up to $113,393 from $104,578.

Ontrack wagering for the season increased 2 percent to $5,586,141 from $5,473,085, while offtrack wagering went up 26 percent, to $2,237,949 from $1,771,728.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Fall meet adds 1stakes, subtracts 4 dates

Hollywood Park will offer a shorter fall meeting this year compared to 2006, but a more lucrative stakes schedule that has been increased by one event, to 23 races.

The richest race at the Inglewood, Calif., track will be the $750,000-guaranteed CashCall Futurity, formerly known as the Hollywood Futurity. One of six Grade 1 stakes at the meeting, the CashCall Futurity is being sponsored by the CashCall lending company for the first time. Last year, the Hollywood Futurity had a purse of $250,000-added and was worth $441,500.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Carry the Day seeks better result in Pilgrim

ELMONT, N.Y. - One would have assumed that with the defection of Big Brown there would have been more interest in Saturday's $75,000 Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont Park. But some horsemen had already made plans to run in other races, leaving the 1 1/16-mile turf race with a field of six, three of whom were cross-entered in Friday's World Appeal Stakes at the Meadowlands.

Trainer Gary Contessa said Thursday he will likely scratch Carry the Day from the World Appeal to run in the Pilgrim, which serves as a prep for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Monmouth Park on Oct. 26.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Expectations high again for Ice Bear

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Ice Bear was trainer Mac Benson’s Queen’s Plate hopeful this spring, but the hopes were abandoned when the gelding disappointed him in two starts over Polytrack here at Woodbine.

Fast-forward to Sunday, and Ice Bear, who is coming off an impressive win over 1?1/16 miles on Polytrack, will be making his stakes debut on that surface in the $150,000 Ontario Derby, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Superstar matchup sets up big day for track

FLORENCE, Ky. - Even before the Turfway Park fall meet started Sept. 5, track president Bob Elliston mulled the possibilities of hosting a matchup between Street Sense and Hard Spun when the Kentucky Cup rolled around.

Elliston theorized that only one negative factor could be created with both horses entering the Kentucky Cup Classic - and even with that, there is a positive spinoff.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Sangara's wish finally realized

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Owner K. K. Sangara one-upped his father, Terry, with a win by Celtic Dreamin in the Grade 3 British Columbia Derby at Hastings last Sunday.

Terry Sangara's best finish as an owner was in the 1979 B.C. Derby with K D's Knight, who finished second.

"I'm just happy to see one of us finally win the race," said Terry Sangara.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Two $100K stakes top closing day card

ERIE, Pa. - The two $100,000 stakes on the final day of the Presque Isle Downs meet Saturday are a microcosm of the 25-day season, as horses that have raced at a number of different tracks will come together in both the Fitz Dixon Memorial Juvenile and The HBPA Stakes.

The Fitz Dixon is for 2-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs and has attracted a field of nine. The HBPA, for fillies and mares at a mile and 70 yards, has 11 entrants, only three of whom have raced over the local Tapeta surface.

Thu, 09/27/2007 - 00:00

Gold Coyote being rested

Gold Coyote, who owns one of the year's highest 2-year-old Beyer Speed Figures, is being freshened and will resume racing during the Fair Grounds meet in New Orleans, said his trainer, Bret Calhoun.

Gold Coyote, who earned a Beyer of 100 for his 10-length victory in the $125,000 Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park on July 7, last raced on Sept. 1. He finished fifth as the favorite in the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Futurity at Arlington Park. Calhoun said that Gold Coyote, making his first start outside of Texas, did not handle the Polytrack.