ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Constant Montpellier will serve a suspension of 12 calendar days and has been fined $2,500 following an appeal hearing at the Ontario Racing Commission offices this Monday and Tuesday.
Brent Stone, supervisor of Thoroughbred racing for the Ontario Racing Commission, said Montpellier's suspension began Tuesday.
Montpellier originally was suspended for 150 days and fined $5,000 by the stewards following a confrontation with fellow jockey Patrick Husbands here last Nov. 11.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The dazzling 3-year-old filly Magnificience will be sidelined until next year because a chip was discovered in her left front ankle that requires minor surgery.
Magnificience burst to prominence with a breathtaking debut March 11 at Santa Anita, and followed with a five-length win April 1 in the Grade 3 Santa Paula Stakes. But soon after she won the 6 1/2-furlong Santa Paula with a 109 Beyer Speed Figure - highest of the year by a 3-year-old of either gender - Magnificience developed heat in an ankle.
Pimlico will package 20 stakes into three major-event days and introduce twilight racing during its 31-day spring meet that begins Thursday.
The eight-week season should get off to a fast start when six stakes, topped by the $125,000 Federico Tesio Stakes for 3-year-olds, will be contested Saturday on a program billed as the Spring Festival of Racing.
The Tesio, which occasionally produces a Preakness starter, is expected to attract Extude, a highly promising Maryland-based colt who has won his last three starts.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Phil Sims said he isn't necessarily gung-ho about running Joe Got Even in the Kentucky Derby, but the veteran trainer admits that may change, depending on what transpires Saturday at Keeneland in the final major Derby prep, the Grade 2 Lexington Stakes.
"We haven't spiked Derby fever yet," Sims said. "But if he runs really great Saturday, obviously we're going to seriously consider running in the Derby."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - One week after announcing he would be skipping the Kentucky Derby with Wood Memorial runner-up Sightseeing, trainer Shug McGaughey said Monday he most likely would skip the Kentucky Oaks with Comely Stakes winner Boca Grande.
Boca Grande came out of her victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Comely in good shape, but McGaughey has his focus more on the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes here on June 9 than the Oaks. The Black-Eyed Susan, a $250,000 race on May 18 at Pimlico, is also a possibility.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Adore the Gold, who finished a tiring seventh after forcing the early pace in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, is back in training after spending more than a week on the sidelines due to illness.
Trainer Mike Gorham said Adore the Gold returned to the track for the first time last Wednesday and will remain on the grounds here through the weekend.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Bwana Bull is going to Kentucky despite his fifth-place showing in the Santa Anita Derby, but he's not going to run in the Kentucky Derby. Instead, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer intends to run Bwana Bull in the $100,000 Derby Trial at 7 1/2 furlongs on April 28.
CALGARY, Alberta - Teagues Fight became the first three-time winner here in Sales Stakes competition with his victory over four rivals in the $50,000 Sales Stakes for 4-year-olds and up at Stampede Park last Saturday. Stephan Heiler hand-rode Teagues Fight down the lane for a 3 1/2-length score as the 1-2 favorite.
Teagues Fight, a 4-year-old gelding, had captured the juvenile and 3-year-old versions of the Sales.
Also Saturday, Certainly Regal avenged her narrow loss in the 2006 Sales Stakes for fillies and mares with a neck victory over Pretty Beaucat.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Tiago, the upset winner of the Santa Anita Derby on April 7, worked six furlongs in 1:13.20 at Hollywood Park on Monday, giving trainer John Shirreffs further confidence in the colt's chances for the Kentucky Derby on May 5.
"This was just a work to get him back into the routine," Shirreffs said. "He came out of the race very well - surprisingly well considering the level of competition. He hasn't backed off his feed and he went back to the track with a little bounce in his step."
Geririg's proven distance ability held him in good stead here as the 7-year-old gelding posted a mild upset in the $45,000 Wildcat Handicap at Turf Paradise. Geririg bided his time early in the 1 3/8-mile turf event, steadily advanced to the far turn, swung wide into the lane, and finished strongly to beat heavy favorite In Joe's Honor by a half-length. Geririg covered the distance in 2:18.34 and paid $14.40.