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.
AUBURN, Wash. - The gang's all here for Friday's opener at Emerald Downs.
That, to a remarkable extent, describes the situation insofar as last year's stakes stars are concerned. Twenty-five different horses won stakes at last year's stand, and 18 of them are currently on the grounds. Another two or three, including recent Santa Anita stakes winner Raise the Bluff, seem likely to make an appearance later in the meeting. Only a Classic Lady (retired) and Diamond Dollars (deceased) are certain not to be seen.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Gouldings Green is nearing his first start of the year, and one of two options for his return is the Grade 3, $300,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park on April 28, said his trainer, Tony Reinstedler. He also is being considered for the Grade 3 Hanshin Cup at Arlington Park on May 26.
"He's worked two five-eighths at Churchill Downs already, so we're getting close," said Reinstedler. "It's either between the Texas Mile and the race in Chicago. It depends on how much he progresses the next 10 days.
"He's doing super."
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Patrick Biancone has trained major stables on three continents, so he knows all about having to make adjustments.
"When you miss one train, you have to take another train," he said.
This pearl of wisdom applies to what Biancone is doing this weekend with Belgravia. Widely regarded as a major contender for the 133rd Kentucky Derby, Belgravia incurred a setback when contracting what Biancone termed a "serious lung infection" while training at Hollywood Park in mid-February.
"I had to stop on him and treat him for about three weeks," said Biancone.