Maimonides, the $4.6 million son of Vindication who finished third in Monday's Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, came out of the race with bucked shins and will miss this fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, his connections said Thursday.
Sobhy Sonbol, the racing manager for owner Ahmed Zayat, said that Maimonides will be out of training for three to four weeks, but could still possibly race again as a 2-year-old.
DEL MAR, Calif. -- Hey there, Georgie Boy.
Georgie Boy ($13.60) knifed between horses at two critical points from the quarter pole to the wire and proved best in a six-horse finish to take a thrilling renewal of the Grade 1, $250,000 Del Mar Futurity for 2-year-olds before 17,069 on the track's closing day Wednesday.
Georgie Boy beat Salute the Sarge by a half-length, with favored Drill Down another nose back in third. Leonides, Dixie Chatter, and Kanan Dune were right there, too, in a roughly run race that found the first six finishers separated by less than two lengths.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Jockey Kirk LeBlanc and agent Rick Mocklin decided to join forces two weeks ago, and even though positive results were almost immediate, the move was made more with the future in mind.
"We both were planning on going to New Orleans this winter so we decided we would hook up." Mocklin said, referring to the Fair Grounds meeting. "So far it has worked out well, and we are looking forward to building some momentum for Fair Grounds. Kirk rides for a lot different outfits and has developed some great relationships through the years."
EAST RUTHERFORD, N. J. - Trainer Jim Ryerson was heartened by Park Avenue Ball's comeback, a second behind standout sprinter Smokey Stover in the Icecapade Stakes Saturday at Monmouth Park.
The 5-year-old Park Avenue Ball, one of the all-time leading New Jersey-breds, had not run since undergoing throat surgery following a sixth-place finish in Monmouth's Elkwood Stakes on May 26.
"We were very pleased with his race," Ryerson said. "We're very pleased with the way he came out of it. That gave us a race with a very tough horse to run against."
In an overt attempt to lure Street Sense to the signature race of its fall meet, Turfway Park on Wednesday announced that an additional $150,000 will be paid to the winning owner of the Sept. 29 Kentucky Cup Classic, which otherwise offers a purse of $350,000. The bonus applies only to horses who have won a Grade 1 race in 2006 or 2007.
Turfway president Bob Elliston said in a release that the bonus "is intended to draw attention to the prestige" the KC Classic has earned.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Following a wildly successful Saratoga season, and after receiving an endorsement from New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to conduct racing in this state for the next three decades, the New York Racing Association finds itself awash in momentum entering the Belmont fall meet that begins on Friday.
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Trainer Bruce Jackson has been involved in the life of Brego, whom he sent out Monday to win the $150,000 DeBartolo Memorial Breeders' Cup at Remington Park, long before the horse was foaled in 2002.
On separate trips to England, Jackson purchased both the sire and dam of Brego on behalf of clients. His sire, In Excess, came to North America in 1990 and won four Grade 1 races here for owner Jack Munari and Jackson. Nine years later, Jackson bought Cheshire Cat, the dam of Brego, on behalf of Denise Tyler.
A solid summer meet has Monmouth Park officials in a positive frame of mind heading toward the Breeders' Cup on Oct. 26 and 27.
"It should provide us with plenty of momentum as we prepare for the Breeders' Cup," said Dennis Dowd, senior vice president of racing for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates the track.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Six horses were entered Wednesday in Saturday's Grade 3 Arlington Matron, but there's a hole in the field about the size of Texas.
Asi Siempre, who would have been a prohibitive favorite to win the Matron, will instead spend Saturday afternoon at home in her stall at Keeneland. Asi Siempre turned in a fast five-furlong workout on Tuesday over Keeneland's Polytrack, but that afternoon she was found to have a bruised foot. The injury isn't serious, but will cost her several days of training - if not a week - and a start in the $150,000 Matron.
