OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It's hard to be better than perfect, but trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. thinks Diamond Stripes can be much better than he showed winning a third-level allowance race Thursday at Aqueduct. The win kept Diamond Stripes undefeated in four career starts.
"He still doesn't have his mind totally on things, but he's going to get there," Dutrow said after Diamond Stripes ran a mile in 1:36.03, beating Tasteyville by two lengths. "I'm looking for a big race next time."
ARCADIA, Calif. - Really, On the Acorn should not be in the Grade 2 San Juan Capistrano Handicap at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Claimed for $40,000 last November, his presence in a graded stakes such as the $200,000 San Juan seems improbable, especially after he returned to finish ninth against $50,000 claimers last December.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Dave Cotey has been active as usual this spring, with three winners from 17 starters in the first eight days of the Woodbine meeting.
On Saturday, Cotey will be looking to play the role of giant-killer when he sends out Angel of the House against the undefeated Like Mom Like Sons and four other 3-year-olds in the $125,000 Woodstock at six furlongs.
Like Mom Like Sons, an impressive winner against older rivals in a 6 1/2-furlong race in his first start of the season for trainer Sid Attard, appears to tower over his opponents in the Woodstock.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Arlington Park, just around the corner from the May 4 opening of its 2007 race meet, plans to complete the installation of its new synthetic racing surface Friday, and the new Polytrack oval is expected to open for training on Wednesday.
No jockey was more eager for the return of racing to Thistledown than Weldon Cloninger Jr. Cloninger's 2006 season ended abruptly when one of his mounts, Jaded Heat, broke down on the June 18 Father's Day card at Thistledown.
"Usually you can hear or feel something when a horse is about to go down and you can try to pull 'em up " said Cloninger. "But in my incident, all I saw was the ground. That's all I remember. I don't remember the horse running me through a meat-grinder."
Sam Houston Race Park will hold its seventh annual $1 million Kentucky Derby Challenge on May 5. The contest requires players to determine the exact order of finish of all of the starters in the Kentucky Derby. A player who does will win $1 million. The contest is restricted to ontrack patrons 21 or older, and there is no entry fee. The contest has not been hit since Sam Houston introduced it in 2000.
If no contestant selects the exact order of finish, there is a $1,000 consolation prize to the person whose entry reflects the most horses in the correct order of finish.
This meet's showcase event, the $100,000 Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes, is attracting interest from around the region, with a strong list of nominees still growing. With nominations to close Wednesday evening, 38 horses had been nominated by mid-morning.
The top four finishers from last Saturday's Dowd Mile - winner Yourmoneysnogood, Stormy Business, Holy City, and Dusty Spike - have all been made eligible for the 1 1/16-mile race. Dusty Spike won the race in 2003 and was second in 2004 and fifth in 2005.
Jockey Gerard Melancon is approaching 3,000 victories. A native of Rayne, La., Melancon is a four-time leading rider at Evangeline Downs and had 2,997 wins heading into this week's racing.
Melancon is riding regularly at Evangeline this season after spending the last several summers in northern Louisiana at Louisiana Downs, where he won back-to-back titles in 2002-03. Melancon has won seven races at the current stand and is tied with Marlon St. Julien for the second spot in the standings, one behind leader Curt Bourque.
After eight days and 63 races at this River Downs meet, 21 jockeys have won at least once. With a jockey colony that large, including five jockeys who have won the riding title here, it won't be easy for two of the leading riders, Perry Ouzts and Dean Sarvis, to achieve their goals.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Ian Black had believed that Seductively might need more ground than she was afforded in last Sunday's six-furlong Whimsical here at Woodbine.
But Seductively, a homebred 4-year-old filly who was making her seasonal bow for Kinghaven Farm, had more than enough time to get rolling and notched her second career stakes victory in the $155,800 Whimsical under jockey Gerry Olguin.
"I thought the race might be too short for her," acknowledged Black, after watching Seductively rally from just off the pace for a 2 1/4-length score.
