Racing constantly renews itself every year with a new crop of 2-year-olds, and Saratoga is the holy land for these babies.
Three-year-olds take the spotlight in the historic Travers Stakes, or Midsummer Derby as it is sometimes called, but it is the abundant display of the best-bred 2-year-old Thoroughbreds that characterizes the Saratoga meet every year.
The past performances for Friday's first four Los Alamitos races were inadvertently omitted from certain Daily Racing Form print editions.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Please download races 1-4 past performances by following the links below:
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Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., plans to replace the top layer of its artificial racing surface this August in order to minimize the amount of kickback thrown up by the surface, the president of the track said Friday.
Robert Elliston, Turfway's president, said that the top two inches of the surface, a synthetic blend of wax-coated materials called Polytrack, will be removed and replaced with a slightly different mix of materials. The new materials will then be mixed into the bottom five inches of the surface.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Were it not for about two minutes and three seconds of racing in May 2005, Giacomo would be a somewhat anonymous racehorse.
But winning a Kentucky Derby can change a colt's place in history, even if he has accomplished little else. Since the 2005 Kentucky Derby, Giacomo is winless in four starts, a string of losses that have greatly diminished his status in racing.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Memorette, Live Life, and Moscow Burning were the first three across the line in last month's Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park, and while they will have a rematch in the Grade 1, $400,000 on Saturday at Del Mar, the probable pace of this race, plus the shorter distance, could yield a different result.
DEL MAR, Calif. - New Joysey Jeff, who has run erratically in the stretch of two stakes this summer, has been placed on a stewards' list by the Del Mar stewards because of his misbehavior and may be gelded in coming days, trainer Mark Glatt said on Thursday.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - In an era of short fields, a handicapper can throw a dart and often stand a 1-in-6 chance of hitting a bull's-eye. It will take more luck - or more skill - to divine the winner of this year's American Derby, which mixes 14 3-year-olds in a 1 3/16-mile grass race, a prep for the Grade 1 Secretariat next month.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The ability to get 1 1/4 miles is the major hurdle facing most of the 3-year-old fillies entered in Saturday's $300,000 , the featured event on Belmont Park's closing day card. The lone exception may be Pine Island.
Pine Island was doing her best running at the end of the Grade 1 Mother Goose, a 1 1/8-mile race in which she finished second to Bushfire, the division leader with three Grade 1 victories.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Judiths Wild Rush, Canada's reigning champion sprinter, will try to solidify his hold atop the local sprint ranks in Saturday's $125,000 Bold Venture Stakes at Woodbine.
The Bold Venture is one of two $125,000 stakes on the 10-race card, joining the Colin Stakes for 2-year-olds, which goes as the eighth race.
AUBURN, Wash. - A full field of 12 juveniles will contest Saturday's $45,000 Emerald Express Stakes at six furlongs, the first stakes of the season for 2-year-old colts and geldings.
Favoritism is up for grabs, but maiden special weight winners Immigration and Wild Cycle seem certain to draw support. Immigration, a son of Delineator from the barn of trainer Howard Belvoir, led throughout to win by three-quarters of a length over a fast-finishing Pirates Deputy in his 5 1/2-furlong debut on June 25, which was run in 1:04.60.
