Even at age 11, Full Moon Madness has plenty of oomph and figures to be tough to handle Saturday, when he invades from Southern California to run in the $50,000 Budweiser Handicap at Sunland Park. A five-furlong event, the Budweiser Handicap lured a full field of 12.
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DRF Past Performances
SAN MATEO, Calif. - A field of seven signed up for Sunday's 25th running of the Grade 3, $250,000 El Camino Real Derby.
Northern California's premier race for 3-year-olds, it will have six betting interests, counting the James McIngvale-owned, Tom Roberts-trained entry of Acolyte and Objective.
Topping in the field are A.P. Warrior, runner-up in the Grade 2 Norfolk at Oak Tree-Santa Anita last fall; Cause to Believe, winner of three stakes and runner-up in two others; and Wanna Runner, third in the Grade 2 San Rafael to Brother Derek and Stevie Wonderboy.
Trainer Daryn Charlton will find out whether either member of his entry of Jazzing Chad and Breakers is ready to move up in the Los Alamitos 870-yard division when they start in the $20,000 The Moonshiner Handicap on Saturday night.
Jazzing Chad is positioned to make that move after showing improvement in his two starts since returning from a layoff. In his comeback, Jazzing Chad had a troubled start in the 550-yard Paul Ford Handicap on Dec. 18 and was unable to recover, finishing nearly four lengths behind the sharp Gold Medal Jess.
Academy Award-winning actor Joe Pesci will be on hand at Gulfstream Park on Saturday to watch his aptly named 3-year-old filly Home Alona run in the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Oaks.
Pesci, best known for his performances in the movies "Goodfellas," "Casino," "My Cousin Vinny," and "Home Alone," owns Home Alona in partnership with trainer Wesley Ward. Pesci has been wintering in Boca Raton, about 30 minutes from the track, and has already been out to the new Gulfstream Park several times this season.
Total all-sources handle on live races at the 2005 Golden Gate Fields fall meeting was $114,816,673, a daily average of $2,496,015 for the 46-day meeting, which ran Oct. 19-Dec. 19. Ontrack handle on live races averaged $230,961.
Golden Gate ran a 59-day winter meeting last season (Nov. 10, 2004, to Jan. 30, 2005), making it difficult to compare handle figures from year to year.
With wagering on simulcasts from other tracks mixed in, Golden Gate averaged $4 million a day last fall. During the 2004-05 winter meet, the track averaged about $4.4 million a day.
Bob Pincins grew up around Narragansett Park and Lincoln Downs in his native Rhode Island. He won with the first horse he saddled, a mare named Trinidoll, at Hawthorne in 1977. He moved his stable to Louisville nearly 30 years ago, and his accent is now a peculiar mix of New England and the South.
Few people have the racetrack in their blood to the degree that Pincins, 54, has it. The prototype of a conscientious, hard-working trainer of six to 12 horses at any given time, Pincins rarely has an opportunity to run horses in stakes races.
Minstrel Runner is an adaptable kind of horse, and that should serve him well Saturday night when he breaks from the rail in the $30,000 Bucharest for 3-year-olds at Sam Houston Race Park.
"If he breaks sharp, we'll get him on out there," said his owner and trainer, Terry Eoff. "If he doesn't, he can come from behind."
When you're talking about stakes races in Maryland, the most potent combination is clearly trainer Larry Murray and owner Sondra Bender.
In 2002, Murray and Bender combined to win seven stakes at Laurel Park and Pimlico and won seven more added-money events in 2003.
Over the past three seasons, Murray-trained horses have gone 11 for 35 in stakes at Laurel - a success rate of 31 percent - with a return on investment of $2.61.