Trainer Ronnie Allen and jockey Mary Doser celebrated milestone wins this past week.
Allen saddled Valley Loot to win the $50,000 Regret Stakes for his 1,000th career win. His daughter Kimberly owns the Michigan-bred filly, who led all the way, and Allen's son, Mike, was aboard for the win.
The lineups have been set for the $100,000 divisions of the D.S. "Shine" Young Futurity, which will anchor Louisiana Legends Night here on June 30. Four trials were held for fillies and four for colts and geldings last Friday and Saturday, with the top three finishers from each trial moving on to the finals.
In the filly trials on Friday, Countess Noel recorded the fastest time. A Count the Time filly trained by Dale Angelle, Countess Noel outfinished the Steve Asmussen-trained Hisse in a time of 59.40 seconds for the five furlongs.
Apprentice Jenna Joubert won her first career race last Thursday on the Minnesota-bred maiden Marina Nolan.
Joubert, 22, piloted Marina Nolan to victory in a statebred contest for 2-year old fillies. The mount was the seventh of Joubert's career and her second aboard Marina Nolan, a Red Rarick trainee who finished fourth in her career debut last month.
Retama Park near San Antonio will run its two premier stakes, the $100,000 El Joven and the $100,000 La Senorita, on Oct. 27, almost two months later than usual. The conditions for the 2-year-old stakes will remain the same as in the past, with both set for one mile on turf. Nominations close July 6.
The new date was necessitated in part by a change to Retama's racing calendar. The track will not open its fall Thoroughbred meet until Sept. 7 this year, as opposed to August in past years. The 32-night season will run through Nov. 17.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., is accepting entries for its two-day qualifying tournament to the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship. Oaklawn's qualifier will be held on Aug. 18-19. The first three finishers will earn a trip to the championship next January in Las Vegas.
The first-place finisher in the Oaklawn tournament will win $10,000. The tournament will pay back to 10th place.
In Preakness winner Curlin, trainer Steve Asmussen has one of the best 3-year-olds in the country. Also residing in Asmussen's Churchill Downs barn is Golden Hare, one of the most prolific winners in the country over the past year.
Golden Hare, an 8-year-old gelding whose specialty is starter allowance races, made an excursion to Indiana Downs on Monday and promptly scored a 5 1/2-length win going five furlongs on the turf, a surface he had never previously tried. The victory was the 10th in Golden Hare's past 11 starts, dating back to Sept. 25 at Remington Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Richard Dutrow Jr. often speaks plainly in instances when other trainers keep mum, such as the sometimes controversial topic of using a "rabbit" for a superior stablemate. From Dutrow's point of view, transparency is quite all right when it comes to trying to manipulate race strategy in a way to further his own chances.
MIAMI - His Triple Crown run over, trainer Bill Kaplan is back home in south Florida, where he plans to stay put for a while.
Kaplan's 3-year-old Imawildandcrazyguy finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in last Saturday's Belmont Stakes. His chances were compromised in the Belmont after he engaged in a bumping incident with Tiago leaving the starting gate.