Gulfstream Park has appointed Bernie Hettel as one of its association stewards for the 2007 meet, which begins on Jan. 3.
Hettel, 56, is a native of Louisville, Ky. He began his racing career more than 30 years ago as an entry clerk at Kentucky tracks and rose quickly through the ranks to become executive director and chief steward of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority in the mid-1980's. He held that position until tendering his resignation in January 2004.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Bay Meadows canceled racing before the third race Thursday after fatal breakdowns in each of the day's first two races. The jockeys refused to ride before the third, citing unsafe track conditions.
Dancing Rose, a 3-year-old filly who was the 7-10 favorite, suffered a broken right front ankle at the half-mile pole of the first race. She was pulled up without falling but was euthanized.
PHOENIX - Skyline Trail couldn't handle Florida Keys when the two met in the Walter R. Cluer on the grass here Nov. 11. But Skyline Trail is better on the dirt - as evidenced by an overnight stakes victory on the main track here last out - and he has a good chance to reverse the outcome of the Cluer when he meets Florida Keys again Saturday in the $40,000 Black Mountain Handicap at Turf Paradise. The one-mile event on the main track lured a field of nine.
More speed from Magic Sunset. That is something handicappers can expect on Saturday night, when the gelding starts as one of the favorites in the $40,000 Cocodrie at Delta Downs. The race is one of two stakes on the card, with the other being the $40,000 Gardenia.
Both stakes are to be run at 6 1/2 furlongs, and both are restricted to Louisiana-breds who have not won a stakes. The conditions of the Cocodrie are one reason trainer Tom Amoss has shipped the 3-year-old Magic Sunset to town from Fair Grounds.
MIAMI - Long-winded grass specialists on the West Coast got their final chance to enhance their reputations last weekend in the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup. On the East Coast, that opportunity comes Saturday at Calder, where 13 long-distance runners are entered in the 1 1/2-mile W. L. McKnight Handicap.
The Grade 2, $200,000 McKnight and its filly counterpart, the $200,000 La Prevoyante Handicap, highlight Saturday's Grand Slam II card, which also includes the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper and Grade 3 Kenny Noe handicaps.
Makin Copy's only win came against maiden claimers. Salony hasn't won at all.
Despite those obvious flaws, both 2-year-old West Virginia-bred fillies may have a distinct advantage over their eight rivals in the $50,000 Eleanor Casey Memorial Stakes at Charles Town.
Makin Copy, a wire-to-wire winner against open company two starts back, and Salony, who just missed at 33-1 in her next-to-last race, own the best Beyer Speed Figures at the 6 1/2-furlong distance of the Casey.
Promenade Girl, good enough to win a Grade 2 stakes and finish third in a Grade 1 event in her two most recent starts, will be a short-priced favorite when she drops into Maryland-bred company for Saturday's $75,000 Geisha Handicap at Laurel Park.
A decisive winner of this same 1o1/8-mile race a year ago, the 4-year-old Promenade Girl actually gets a fairly comfortable weight assignment at 122 pounds. That's two pounds less than she carried when beaten 2 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland last time out on Oct. 8.
NEW ORLEANS - Local hero Mystery Giver returns to the scene of some of his greatest triumphs in Saturday's feature race at Fair Grounds, the inaugural running of the $75,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.
Mystery Giver is one of the most accomplished grass runners in Fair Grounds history, a winner of more than $1 million on the turf. A gelded 8-year-old son of Dynaformer, he won the Fair Grounds Breeders' Cup three years in a row, from 2002 to 2004, and added a victory in the $500,000 Mervin Muniz Handicap at Fair Grounds in 2004.
Cee's the Point has won 3 of his last 4 starts, and the sharp form coupled with his versatile running style could give him a slight edge Saturday in a competitive renewal of the $50,000 KLAQ Handicap at Sunland Park.
The 5 1/2-furlong race is for 3-year-olds and up, and it is one of three stakes on the opening weekend card. In other action, Rocky Gulch heads the $125,000 Johnie Jamison for New Mexico-breds, while Gotta Get will be aiming for his sixth straight win when he starts in the $125,000 Jess Burner Memorial, a restricted Grade 1 for Quarter Horses.