Jockeys Lonnie Meche and Jose Verenzuela were fined $500 each by the Louisiana Downs board of stewards for an altercation in the winner's circle after the first race at the Bossier City, La., track last Sunday, July 16.
A hearing was held on Thursday, and separate rulings for each rider were issued on Friday. They state that each rider was fined for "using profanity after the running of the first race . . . which escalated into an altercation with another jockey in the winner's circle."
Costa Rising won his fifth straight race on Friday, when he cruised to an easy, two and a half length win over Chromite Solider in the $75,000 A.L. "Red" Erwin at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La. It was another nose back in third to Tommy's Turn.
The Erwin was for 3-year-olds bred in Louisiana. It was run at about a mile on turf, and the course was listed as good on Friday.
It's a good thing entries for Saratoga's opening-day card next Wednesday were drawn on Friday. Handicappers will need extra time sorting through the past performances of a terrific card.
Full, competitive fields are on tap for a 10-race card highlighted by the Grade 3, $100,000 Schuylerville Stakes for juvenile fillies at six furlongs. The New York Racing Association brought back the Schuylerville after having canceled it in 2005. This year, NYRA has restored the juvenile stakes schedule to three races in both the male and female divisions.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Park Avenue Ball heads a strong field in the $70,000 Skip Away Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park. A 1 1/16-mile race, the Skip Away is the prep for the meet's main event for older runners on the main track, the Grade 3, $250,000 Philip Iselin Handicap Aug. 19.
The Iselin has long been on the radar screen for Park Avenue Ball, a New Jersey-bred 4-year-old who has won 1 of 3 starts this year.
"Our hopes are to run here, run well, come back good, and think about the Iselin," said trainer Jim Ryerson.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The learning curve continues at Monmouth Park as management and the maintenance crew seek the right balance for the new turf course that debuted in June.
The weather was very hot last weekend, and course records fell as horses ran exceptionally fast.
MIAMI - Opportunities in the handicap division for fillies and mares going two turns on dirt are few and far between in south Florida during the summer and fall. That makes it all the more surprising that just six horses signed on for Sunday's $80,000 Nancy's Glitter Handicap, one of only two route races over the main track on the stakes schedule for the division through the end of the Calder meet on Oct. 16.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Jockey Carlos Gonzalez took time out of his riding schedule this winter to work on a movie about Ruffian and to visit his family in Puerto Rico. The change of pace served him well.
Gonzalez came out swinging at the start of the Louisiana Downs meet in May, jumping to the top of the jockey standings, and on Thursday he padded his lead by going 4 for 7.
Now, the countdown is on to his 2,000th career win. Gonzalez was at 1,986 going into the races Friday.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Bret Calhoun has won a meet-best 13 races for 2-year-olds at Lone Star Park, and on Sunday he could add to his total when he starts Devils Warrior in a competitive running of the $65,000 Middleground Breeders' Cup.
The six-furlong race will close out the meet. Among the nine colts and geldings in the field are Real Quiet Man, a sharp maiden winner for trainer Cole Norman; Mary's Gray Boy, who is stakes-placed; and Eldon's Effort, an impressive debut winner here July 9.
AURORA, Colo. - All seven entrants in Sunday's $25,000-added Colorado Derby have yet to be tested at the 1 1/16-mile distance, making it an interesting handicapping affair. Favoritism will likely be split between a pair of recent stakes winners here in Skip's Bet, winner of the Ruffian Handicap, and Sunday Romeo, the Inaugural Handicap winner.
