INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Hollywood Park will replace its main track with a synthetic surface made by Equestrian Surfaces of Burnley, England, at the conclusion of its current spring-summer meeting on July 16, track officials announced Wednesday.
The new surface is known as Cushion Track and consists of silica sand mixed with synthetic fibers, elastic fiber, and granulated rubber. The material is coated with a blend of wax.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Brother Derek, the top 3-year-old male in California this year, is being pointed for the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 6, trainer Dan Hendricks said on Wednesday.
Brother Derek finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in May and resumed training last weekend after being given a one-month break.
Hendricks said the Grade 1 Haskell is an attractive goal because a Grade 1 win at a track outside of California could enhance Brother Derek's value at stud. His five stakes wins have come in California.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Memo to those planning to skip out of work early and head out to Belmont Park on Friday:
The bad news is that the two races most worth watching come early. The good news is that Friday is the second of six "twilight" Fridays with a first-race post of 3 p.m., so you have most of the afternoon to sneak out.
Race 3 is a $58,000 optional claimer with classified allowance conditions scheduled for 10 furlongs on the inner turf. It drew seven for turf (none for the $100,000 tag) and three for the main track only.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher considered a number of comeback options for Flower Alley.
One by one, Belmont Park races such as the Met Mile, the Suburban Handicap, and the Tom Fool fell out of consideration for various reasons ranging from distance to positioning on the calendar.
In the end, the Grade 3, $150,000 Salvator Mile on Saturday at Monmouth Park made the most sense.
"He's a horse that is probably best suited for a middle-distance race for his first race back," said Pletcher. "He's probably a better two-turn horse than a one-turn horse."
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Call the Marines, fresh off a victory, heads the $38,000 first-level allowance feature Friday at Monmouth Park.
A 4-year-old gelding, Call the Marines cruised to an eight-length win June 2 over $40,000 claimers, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 80.
, 1 for 6 last year, has shown steady improvement in each of his four starts this season. His Beyers have improved each time out, culminating last time with the first win of his campaign.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In Friday's featured 10th race at Churchill Downs - a $58,000 second-level allowance - gets back to his strength: running a one-turn mile over the Churchill strip.
Last November he produced the best performance of his six-race career under similar conditions - winning an allowance by 1 1/4 lengths. He ran quickly, too, racing a mile in 1:35.98, a performance that earned him a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Some say laughter is the best medicine. For trainer David MacLean, who is terminally ill with pancreatic cancer, winning horse races is what keeps him feeling good.
He did just that Saturday when Miss Meggie won a maiden race on the Stephen Foster undercard. Even when MacLean was interviewed Wednesday, the rush from the win hadn't even begun to wear off. He remained excited, exhibiting the exuberance of someone half his 49 years of age.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wanna Runner, the California invader who will be favored in Sunday's $1 million Queen's Plate, changed his routine on Wednesday morning by taking his exercise over the training track for the first time. He had been training over the main track.
According to Seirge LeBlanc, who gallops horses here for trainer Mike Doyle and has been Wanna Runner's partner since he arrived last week, the change certainly didn't faze the well-traveled gelding.
