Getting a grade was good for business. Delta Downs was awarded Grade 3 status this year for its richest race, the $1 million Delta Jackpot, and when entries for Friday night's 1 1/16-mile stakes for 2-year-olds were taken on Tuesday, the race drew 11. The field size is limited to 10.
The Delta Jackpot's morning-line favorite at 3-1 is Birdbirdistheword, the fourth-place finisher in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity who will break from post 8.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A field of six evenly matched 3-year-old fillies will contest Thursday's $65,000 Flat Fleet Feet, an overnight stakes at a mile and 70 yards for nonwinners of a graded stakes this year.
The two fillies to have run Beyer Speed Figures of 90 or better, Altesse and Homerette, try two turns on dirt for the first time. Neither can afford to bring anything but her "A" game, because Lady of Clare, Love Locket, Daytime Promise, and Diamond Spirit have Beyer tops ranging from 86 to 88.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - In a dangerous sport, jockey Russell Baze says he has been lucky to avoid career-threatening injuries and says that is one of the reasons he entered the week only two victories shy of Laffit Pincay Jr.'s all-time record of 9,530 career wins.
Baze won two races Sunday and was at 9,528 wins entering Wednesday's Bay Meadows card.
Currin's name became forever linked with Delta in 2002, when he swept in from Southern California and won the inaugural running of the Jackpot, which was worth $500,000, with Outta Here. He will return to Delta for the first time since then on Friday to run California Cup Juvenile winner Freesgood in the Jackpot.
Currin remembers his first trip to Delta well. The track, which has a slots casino and six-furlong oval, is located three miles off of Interstate 10, in a Louisiana-Texas border town that has a population of 3,390.
CHICAGO - Chicago racing is not Saratoga, not Keeneland, not Del Mar, not Churchill or Gulfstream. But Chicago horses are having a fine fall outside Illinois. Dreaming of Anna won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Street Sense, who raced this past summer at Arlington, won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. And Saturday, on Churchill's closing day, Chicago-based horses won both 2-year-old turf stakes. Corrupt, starting his career with two wins, took the Grand Canyon Stakes as the 6-5 favorite, and Ciao, a 22-1 shot, won the Caressing Stakes.
MIAMI To nobodys surprise, Saturdays $100,000 Tropical Turf Handicap and its filly counterpart, the $100,000 My Charmer, both lured full fields when drawn Monday. The two stakes, both Grade 3s, headline the 12-race Grand Slam I card, which also includes the $100,000 Foolish Pleasure and $100,000 Three Ring Stakes for 2-year-olds.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Cindy Olsen and Jack Retzloff are hoping for lightning to strike again when their homebred Mr. Hold'em makes his debut in a six-furlong maiden race Thursday at Bay Meadows.
Mr. Hold'em is related to their best horse, Mr. Doubledown, a winner of nine stakes, including the Grade 3 Hollywood Turf Express, and $738,692. Mr. Doubledown won his debut.
Jeff Bonde, who trained Mr. Doubledown, and Roberto Gonzalez, Mr. Doubledown's regular rider, team up with Mr. Hold'em.
"He's worked well, and I expect him to run well," Bonde said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Before there was Polytrack or Cushion Track, there was the inner track.
While not considered as revolutionary as the aforementioned surfaces in terms of being kinder on horses, Aqueduct's inner track, which first opened in 1975, is designed to withstand the harsh winter weather that often encumbers these parts. Naturally, Wednesday's forecast calls for a high of 62 degrees.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The hottest stable in Southern California over the Thanksgiving weekend was also the saddest.
From Wednesday through Sunday last week, trainer John Sadler won with 4 of his 6 starters, including Warning Zone in the first division of Friday's Generous Stakes. In the second division, the Sadler-trained Edwardian suffered a catastrophic breakdown on the backstretch and was euthanized.
The incident remained foremost on Sadler's mind on Sunday as he oversaw training and reflected on an otherwise successful weekend.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. All-sources and off-track wagering were down slightly from corresponding 2005 figures at the Churchill Downs fall meet that ended Saturday, while average ontrack wagering was up substantially.
Figures do not include the Nov. 4 Breeders Cup, meaning the comparisons that were released by the track were for a 21-day meet in 2005 versus 20 days for 2006. The daily all-sources handle this fall averaged $8.61 million, down less than 1 percent from the $8.68 million from last fall.
