Sat, 08/21/2021 - 22:46

Mandatory payout 20-cent pick six returns $10,521

Emily Shields
Mo Forza, who paid $4.20 in the Del Mar Mile, was one of three winning favorites in the pick-six sequence.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The 20-cent Jackpot pick six paid $10,521 at Del Mar on Saturday, a day with a mandatory payout and a track record pool of $8,876,771 in new money.

The pick six helped Del Mar to an all-sources handle of $36,005,612, a record for a non-Breeders’ Cup Day. The previous mark of $25.8 million for a non-Breeders’ Cup day was set on Pacific Classic Day in 2018.

Saturday’s pick six began with a carryover of $1,874,996 from Friday. The pool of new money surpassed the previous record of $6.65 million for a pick six set in September 2010.

Sat, 08/21/2021 - 17:49

Filly uninjured after jumping fence at Ellis and taking off down the highway

The 2-year-old filly Bold and Bossy escaped serious injury Saturday following a frightening gallop down a highway prior to the first race at Ellis Park.

Bold and Bossy, who was set to make her career debut, dropped her rider in the post parade for the first race. She proceeded to jump a fence, run around the levy that surrounds the racetrack, and went out on Highway 41, according to Barbara Borden, a steward presiding at Ellis Park.

Sat, 08/21/2021 - 15:48

Essential Quality among six Travers workers Saturday

Deb Roma
Essential Quality, with Luis Saez aboard, works five furlongs outside of Bonny South on Saturday at Saratoga. Both run in Grade 1 stakes on Aug. 28 - Essential Quality in the Travers and Bonny South in the Personal Ensign.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Led by Essential Quality, six of the expected seven runners for next Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes, put in their final workout for the race Saturday morning at Saratoga.

But, wait, there’s more.

Letruska, the leading older female in the country, and Swiss Skydiver, last year’s 3-year-old champion filly, also put in sharp moves Saturday toward their meeting in next Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Personal Ensign at Saratoga.

Fri, 08/20/2021 - 15:00

Travers looking like a seven-horse field

Barbara D. Livingston
If Weyburn runs in the Queen's Plate he will be returning to action 22 days after a fourth-place finish in the Jim Dandy.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The connections of Weyburn and Bourbonic both said Friday that their horses will not run in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes, which should leave the field at seven.

Fri, 08/20/2021 - 14:56

Mott has Grade 1 plans for Speaker's Corner, Forza Di Oro

Barbara D. Livingston
Forza Di Oro is pointing to the Jockey Club Gold Cup off this victory in an allowance race Wednesday at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott has finalized plans for several of his recent winners, including the 3-year-old Speaker’s Corner, who will make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 25.

Speaker’s Corner came off a 10-month layoff to win a first-level allowance race by 5 1/4 lengths going seven furlongs on Aug. 14. Mott has been keen to stretch the horse out to 1 1/8 miles, something he will do against the likes of Hot Rod Charlie, First Captain, Weyburn, and perhaps Medina Spirit in the Pennsylvania Derby.

Fri, 08/20/2021 - 14:46

Knicks Go using Lukas Classic to prep for Breeders' Cup Classic

Barbara D. Livingston
Knicks Go wins the Aug. 7 Whitney at Saratoga. He won’t run again until the Lukas Classic on Oct. 2 at Churchill Downs.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Knicks Go, the leader of the older male dirt division, will use the Grade 3, $400,000 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs on Oct. 2 as his prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 6 at Del Mar, trainer Brad Cox said Friday.

While Knicks Go is still in Saratoga, Cox said plans call for him to ship to Churchill when that track reopens its backside, expected to be right after Labor Day. The Lukas Classic is eight weeks from the Grade 1 Whitney, which Knicks Go won on Aug. 7, and five weeks from the Breeders’ Cup.

Fri, 08/20/2021 - 10:25

FanDuel to sponsor Kentucky Downs meet

FanDuel, the parent company of horse racing broadcaster and account-wagering company TVG, will be the title sponsor at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., for the next three years under an agreement signed by the two companies in advance of the track’s meet this year.

FanDuel, which is among a number of companies in the United States jockeying to become a leader in sports betting, will receive title sponsorship for the Grade 3 Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs, and the track’s signal will air exclusively on TVG through the three-year duration of the agreement, the companies said. 

Fri, 08/20/2021 - 08:10

Scott Wells, executive at Remington and Lone Star, to retire

Scott Wells, the Remington Park and Lone Star Park general manager who has held racetrack management positions at a variety of tracks throughout the Southwest and internationally for 31 years, will retire at the close of Remington’s meet this December, the owner of the tracks announced on Thursday.

Wells, a former trainer, has been the general manager at Remington since 2005 and the president and general manager of Lone Star Park since 2013. Both tracks are owned by Global Gaming Solutions, the commercial arm of the Chickasaw Nation.

Wed, 08/18/2021 - 16:35

New York stewards fine Noda $5,000

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Orlando Noda has been fined $5,000 by the New York stewards “for action detrimental to the best interest of racing,” according to a ruling put out Wednesday by the New York State Gaming Commission.

Neither the commission steward, Braulio Baeza Jr., nor Noda would comment on what the trainer did to incur the fine. However, multiple sources on Thursday told Daily Racing Form that Noda was seen being overly aggressive on a horse that he was exercising ontrack during a recent morning in Saratoga.

Wed, 08/18/2021 - 15:20

Casse will run Got Stormy against males in Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs

Barbara D. Livingston
Got Stormy will shorten up from a mile in the Fourstardave (above) to six furlongs in the Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There’s been a change of plans for Got Stormy’s next start.

Yes, she will make her next start at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 11. But instead of running in the $600,000 Ladies Sprint, Got Stormy will take on males again in the $1 million Turf Sprint at six furlongs.

“She’s already won that,” trainer Mark Casse said. “We’re going to do something different.”

Got Stormy beat the males in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga, her second win in three years in that race.