ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mike Doyle, who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame earlier this year, has died at age 74.
Doyle conditioned Canadian champions Bessarabian and Wavering Girl, along with Wild Gale, who finished third in both the 1993 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. He won 1,178 races, including 120 stakes, and amassed earnings of $44.2 million.
Unrivaled Time, winner of the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes on turf at Del Mar on Sunday, is likely to have a brief rest this winter in advance of a 2026 season geared toward the leading races for 3-year-olds on turf.
Trainer Leonard Powell said on Wednesday that Unrivaled Time is unlikely to start in the next stakes for 2-year-olds on turf in California, the $100,000 Eddie Logan Stakes at a mile at Santa Anita on Dec. 28.
Jockey Luis Fuentes will be sidelined indefinitely due to injuries sustained in a spill in an allowance race on the undercard of the Zia Park Derby. He fractured his femur and four ribs, and suffered a punctured lung, according to his agent, Mike Kelly. Fuentes underwent surgery for the femur in El Paso, Texas.
“He said the operation went good and everything,” Kelly said. “He’s home healing.”
Zero Sugar, who was a close second to Brotha Keny in the $300,000 Zia Park Derby last month in New Mexico, will likely make his next start at Oaklawn Park, according to co-owner Staton Flurry.
Flurry said trainer Cippy Contreras has options for Zero Sugar, who is eligible for a conditioned allowance as well as the $135,000 The Coach, which is a new overnight stakes for 4-year-olds on Jan. 2. The 1 1/16-mile race is named for the late Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
The Tom Amoss trainees Oscar’s Hope and Actis both positioned themselves for opportunities on the 3-year-old trail next season after winning separate two-turn stakes last month at Delta Downs.
In the $100,000 Jean Lafitte for 2-year-olds, Oscar’s Hope was always prominent while nailing down the third win of his young career. He entered the race off a first-level allowance sprint win at Churchill Downs. For his 2 3/4-length win in the Jean Lafitte, Oscar’s Hope equaled his best Beyer Speed Figure, an 82.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There will be live racing Wednesday, Dec. 10, at Aqueduct, the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday afternoon. That card was added to the schedule to make up for the cancellation of the final eight races on Sunday’s card, when the jockeys refused to ride, citing differences with management.
Following this four-day week, NYRA will race Dec. 10-14 before going on holiday break from Dec. 15-25. Racing will then resume Dec. 26.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer John Ortiz will keep a string of 10 to 15 horses in New York this winter as he tries to establish a year-round presence here. The early returns are quite good.
Ortiz has won three races from six starts at Aqueduct’s fall meet. The wins have come with New York-breds Doc Sullivan, Moe Eighty Eight, and Braverthanubelieve, all owned by Glenn Lostritto’s Tristar Farm.
Gokhan Kocakaya, a Turkish jockey who spent the summer in his home nation, is back in the United States and looking for mounts at Laurel Park. On Sunday, he earned his first victory since returning to Maryland, his fifth in 34 starts in the U.S. this year.
Racing at Aqueduct is expected to resume Thursday after a meeting Monday between the Jockeys’ Guild and New York Racing Association management was deemed “productive,” according to representatives from both organizations.
