Wed, 10/03/2007 - 00:00

Spinster will serve as Plan B for Teammate

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Allen Jerkens couldn't remember the last time he sent a horse from New York to race at Keeneland. His best guess was Sensitive Prince, who won a minor Kentucky Derby prep race in 1978 before setting the pace for Affirmed and Alydar in the Derby, but more recently than that, Jerkens saddled Silent Account, winner of the 1985 Alcibiades.

Wed, 10/03/2007 - 00:00

Sans Souci Island seeks rebound

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Roger Attfield has many fond memories of the top turf racemare Carotene, whom he trained through a four-year career beginning in 1985 that yielded six Sovereign Awards.

Carotene was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2003, one year after a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies here was named in her honor.

On Saturday, Attfield will be looking to win the Carotene Stakes for the first time when he sends out Sans Souci Island and Dancer's Fan to face just three other opponents.

Wed, 10/03/2007 - 00:00

Daily purses up 12% at Turf Paradise

PHOENIX - Back in January 1956, Walter Cluer saw his dream come true. An area of desert a few miles north of downtown Phoenix, previously barren, became Turf Paradise. The Phoenix track opens its doors for the 52nd time Friday, fittingly with a stakes named to honor its founder.

Friday's $45,000 Walter R. Cluer Memorial, at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf, kicks off the meet, which runs 156 days and concludes May 4. The track will hold live racing primarily on a Thursday-through-Tuesday basis. Full-card simulcasting from around the country will be offered seven days a week.

Wed, 10/03/2007 - 00:00

Frankel seeks more Keeneland magic

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Bobby Frankel was inducted into the racing Hall of Fame in 1995, so it's not like he never accomplished anything prior to the 1999 Keeneland fall meet.

Tue, 10/02/2007 - 00:00

Boca Grande leads Indiana Oaks entries

The Phipps Stable and trainer Shug McGaughey will seek their second win in four years in the Grade 3, $400,000 Indiana Oaks Friday night at Hoosier Park. Thirteen 3-year-old fillies was entered Tuesday for the Oaks, which begins the biggest weekend of racing at Hoosier Park, highlighted by the Grade 2, $500,000 Indiana Derby on Saturday night.

Boca Grande, a dual graded stakes winner in New York, will attempt to follow in the footsteps of another Phipps homebred, Daydreaming, who won the Oaks in 2004.

Tue, 10/02/2007 - 00:00

Mach Ride pointed for BC Sprint

MIAMI - You can bet trainer Steve Standridge is glad the 2007 Breeders' Cup is being run at Monmouth Park and not across the river in New York.

The Standridge-trained Mach Ride likely earned himself a trip to the BC Sprint with his fourth-place finish in Saturday's Grade 1 Vosburgh Handicap at Belmont Park. Mach Ride was beaten just a neck and a nose for second by Talent Search and Discreet Cat despite a slow start that forced the Calder-based 4-year-old to rally wide and from last place in the six-furlong Vosburgh.

Tue, 10/02/2007 - 00:00

Owner, jock, and trainer set marks at Emerald

AUBURN, Wash. - A new high-water mark for total average daily handle was one of several records established at the 2007 Emerald Downs meeting, which concluded Sunday after 91 days of racing.

The track posted an increase of 2.3 percent on wagering from all sources, including full-card simulcasts, and a .5 percent decline in all-sources betting on Emerald's live races. The track handled $1,415,172 per day from all sources, with an average of $839,018 per day bet on Emerald's races.

The track's president, Ron Crockett, said the meet outperformed his expectations.

Tue, 10/02/2007 - 00:00

Keeneland opens with dash to Cup

Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos
Opening weekend of Keeneland's 17-day meet will be capped by Sunday's running of the Spinster Stakes.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Like racehorses, race meets typically begin reasonably calmly, with the thought being that at least a little something should be saved for the end.

But the fall at Keeneland - at least the stakes program - is more like a Quarter Horse race, owing to how the calendar falls in relation to the Breeders' Cup. Starting Friday, nine stakes - including several major preps toward the Oct. 26-27 Breeders' Cup - will be run during the three-day weekend that opens the 17-day fall meet.

Tue, 10/02/2007 - 00:00

Frankel: Silent Name iffy for Ancient Title

ARCADIA, Calif. - A graded stakes winner co-owned by Frank Stronach and trained by Bobby Frankel might not run in a Grade 1 stakes Sunday at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet because of the trainer's displeasure with the speed of the Cushion Track surface at Stronach's flagship track.

Frankel is the new trainer of Silent Name, whose three U.S. wins for Gary Mandella include Grade 2's on turf and Polytrack. Silent Name was transferred to Frankel last month and is working so well at Hollywood Park that Frankel will consider supplementing him for $6,000 to the six-furlong Ancient Title.

Tue, 10/02/2007 - 00:00

Forty Acres adds speed to Oklahoma Derby

Forty Acres is set to bring his front-running style to the Oklahoma Derby. The $300,000 race at Remington Park on Oct. 21 is the next scheduled start for Forty Acres, who pulled off a wire job in the $100,000 Prelude at Louisiana Downs in August, then set the pace and finished seventh in last month's Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby.