INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Bob Hess Jr. admits to getting little sleep Wednesday night. With the first day of training on Del Mar's new Polytrack synthetic surface looming Thursday, Hess tossed and turned, worried about how his horses would handle the surface.
"I was having nightmares about it," he said.
By late morning Thursday, Hess said his concern was a false alarm. Like several other trainers who sent horses over the surface for the first time Thursday, Hess gave the course a positive review.
Ontrack wagering on live races increased 10.9 percent at the 11-day Alameda County Fair meeting in Pleasanton, Calif, which began June 27 and ended Sunday. Total ontrack wagering came to $6,185,716, an average of $562,338, up from the 2006 total of $5,576,047 for 11 race days.
The all-sources handle for the meet, including all offtrack betting on Pleasanton races, increased 3.2 percent to $25,251,746 from $24,467,527 in 2006.
Construction on the Golden Gate Fields synthetic Tapeta surface will begin July 23, the track's general manager, Robert Hartman, told horsemen Wednesday at the Albany, Calif., track. Plans are to reopen the barn area on Oct. 12 with training scheduled to begin Oct. 15. The Golden Gate Fields fall-winter meet begins Nov. 7.
Horses can train at Golden Gate through July 22, with the barn area to close July 25. Horses stabled at Golden Gate will have to be relocated to Bay Meadows, Pleasanton, or Vallejo during construction, Hartman said.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Mike Fox, the upset winner of the Queen's Plate at Woodbine on June 24, will begin from post 5 when he attempts to double up in the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes here at Fort Erie on Sunday.
The field for the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales hit six following a last-minute decision by trainer Roger Attfield to enter Poachers Moon.
Post positions for the Prince of Wales, which is the second leg of the Triple Crown for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, were drawn at a ceremony here late Wednesday afternoon.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Gold Coyote put up the year's highest Beyer Speed Figure for a 2-year-old colt on Saturday, when he won the $125,000 Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park with a 100. The win came at a distance that figures to be less than optimum for him, and on Wednesday morning his trainer, Bret Calhoun, was just starting to look at the races available to eventually stretch out Gold Coyote.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill - Call her Rags to Riches light.
Dashes N Dots, a 3-year-old filly, was one of seven horses entered Wednesday in the Round Table Stakes, a $100,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on Polytrack on Saturday. The other six horses in the Round Table are males - a fact that does not necessarily disturb Greg Fox, who trains Dashes N Dots for a three-man partnership.
"It's that big idea of a filly against colts," Fox said. "I've never tried it, but it'd be interesting to see."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Paddy Gallagher's stable is focused on 3-year-olds this summer.
Last Saturday, the Gallagher-trained Valbenny finished a troubled second in the Grade 1 American Oaks. This Saturday, on the final weekend of the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting, the gelding Augment makes his stakes debut in the $350,000 Swaps Stakes.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - While the major event of the weekend will be Sunday's $500,000 Prince of Wales at Fort Erie, the 3-year-olds also will get to strut their stuff here at Woodbine in Saturday's Toronto Cup.
The Toronto Cup, an open 1 1/8-mile turf race, could prove to be a coming-out party for Artie Hot.
During the annual meeting of the Minnesota Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association this past week, Canterbury Park's president and general manager, Randy Sampson, informed horsemen that their are no plans to sell the racetrack.
Working to dispel rumors that the facility would be sold, Sampson outlined plans that would enhance the racetrack and card club facility's appeal as an entertainment destination. Sampson mentioned that some parts of the backstretch property might be developed for alternate uses.