The $731,650 Sam Houston Futurity on Friday will be run as a non-wagering event after as many of eight of the 10 finalists for the 330-yard race failed recent drug tests, the track announced on Thursday.
The affected horses, or their trainers, were not named, but the track said in a statement that their trainers would not be allowed to enter any additional horses for races on June 4 or thereafter.
Gulfstream Park will switch to a three-day-a-week racing schedule, Friday through Sunday, for a period of three months, beginning the week of June 7, when construction starts to install a Tapeta racing surface on the outside third of the turf course. A drainage project on the inner 12 feet of the turf course will also commence at that time.
The impetus for installing the Tapeta surface is minimize scratches when races come off the turf. Those races will be run on the artificial track.
A year after fans were prohibited from attending the races at Saratoga Race Course due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the historic upstate New York track will open to near-full capacity this summer, the New York Racing Association and Gov. Cuomo announced Thursday.
NYRA will designate most sections – including the backyard picnic area – for fans who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19. NYRA will designate a small number of hospitality and seating areas for non-vaccinated fans. In those sections, fans will be required to observe social-distance guidelines and wear a face covering.
Flagstaff, second in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sept. 27 2020, tested positive for the banned medication clodronic acid, a bisphosphonate, after the race, according to two complaints posted on Wednesday by the California Horse Racing Board on its website.
The complaints were filed against trainer John Sadler and the owners of Flagstaff – Hronis Racing and Lane’s End Racing.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Catchusifyoucan is a candidate for the $125,000 Debutante at Churchill Downs after her impressive maiden special weight win last weekend at Lone Star Park.
Trainer Bret Calhoun said the June 26 stakes in Kentucky is the probable target for Catchusifyoucan as the 2-year-old filly is not eligible for any of the upcoming restricted stakes in Texas.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – The Southern California-based trainer Peter Miller will make his Texas debut Monday when he saddles four graded stakes winners on the Lone Star Million Day card at Lone Star Park.
Miller has C Z Rocket in the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile, Get Her Number in the $300,000 Texas Derby, Laura’s Light in the $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff, and Texas Wedge in the $100,000 Chamberlain Bridge.
“It’s nice to come in with a really strong group,” Miller said. “Hopefully, they acquit themselves well.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Dylan Davis, out of the saddle since March 20, when he broke his collarbone in a spill at Aqueduct, has been cleared to start getting on horses.
Davis got on three horses for trainer Mark Hennig Tuesday and galloped five horses on Wednesday. He was expected to breeze his first horse on Thursday with the hope of being able to take calls starting next week.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Last year, the mare Oleksandra beat the boys in the Grade 1 Jaipur.
On June 5, when Oleksandra goes for a repeat in that race, she is expected to have another female in the starting gate with her in Got Stormy.
Trainer Mark Casse said Wednesday that Got Stormy is pointing to the six-furlong Jaipur, which is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November at Del Mar.
ELMONT, N.Y. – In an older male division that could use some reinforcements, the undefeated Happy Saver makes his 4-year-old debut Friday in a one-mile, multi-conditioned allowance race at Belmont Park.
Happy Saver, a 4-year-old son of Super Saver, made all four of his starts last year, capped by a victory over Mystic Guide in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup here last Oct. 10. Mystic Guide has come back to win twice, including the Dubai World Cup in March.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Like the King, 12th in the Kentucky Derby off a victory in the Jeff Ruby Steaks on the Turfway synthetic, is switching surfaces again when he faces seven other 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on turf in the Audubon on Saturday at Churchill Downs. The Palace Malice colt, trained by Wesley Ward, has three starts on dirt, three on synthetics, and one on turf, which resulted in an easy maiden win last September at Belterra Park.
The Audubon field includes Palazzi, Like the King, Cave Hill, Hidden Enemy, Haddassah, Cellist, Holy Vow, and Royal Prince.
