HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Bernie Flint won the 3,000th race of his career on Saturday, when More Than Pretty captured the 11th race at Oaklawn Park. She paid $16.
Flint, 66, launched a training career in 1976. He has won more than 30 training titles in Kentucky, and won back-to-back titles at Oaklawn in 1992 and 1993. Flint currently has divisions of his stable at Oaklawn and Turfway Park.
Calvin Borel rode More Than Pretty, who races for Naveed Chowhan.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Winning the Grade 1, $250,000 is becoming second nature to Helen Pitts.
Pitts served as an assistant to trainer Ken McPeek when he won the race in 2004 with Hard Buck and again last year with Prince Arch. Pitts took out her own training license later during the 2005 campaign, and on Saturday she sent out the lightly raced Einstein, who outgamed Go Deputy for a neck victory in the 21st renewal of the race.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Gulfstream winter meet is traditionally an active one at the claim box, but it's unlikely too many trainers will be filling out slips for Monday's ninth race, which is carded for horses running under claiming tags of $200,000 to $250,000.
A field of seven older horses will contest the one-mile race, which carries a $46,000 purse and is thought to be the highest-priced claiming event ever run in Florida.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Is a horse that lost a conditioned $10,000 claimer just four races ago good enough to win an open second-level allowance race? Well, that depends on the level of competition.
The featured sixth race Monday at the National Jockey Club meet at Hawthorne is indeed for second-level allowance horses, and, yes, Bucksteeler lost a $10,000 nonwinners-of-two claimer Oct. 19 at Hoosier Park. But that was the beginning of major progress for the 4-year-old Bucksteeler.
"He's much improved, believe me," said Steve Manley, Bucksteeler's Fairmount Park-based trainer.
STICKNEY, Ill. - The National Jockey Club attracted 99 entries on Friday's opening-day nine-race card here at Hawthorne Race Course, but business slowed considerably over the weekend, and a mere 59 horses were entered in Tuesday's nine races, each of which has either six or seven entries.
OLDSMAR, Fla. - Just how much has the quality of racing improved at Tampa Bay Downs?
Consider this: When Atticus Kristy ran down Western Kind in a five-furlong optional claiming sprint on the turf in Tuesday's nightcap in a blistering 55.02 seconds, it marked the sixth time at this meeting a track record had been set.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Lawyer Ron paid tribute to his late owner and breeder, James T. Hines Jr. on Saturday, when he won his fourth straight race in the $250,000 at Oaklawn Park. The one-mile race was the first of two local preps for the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby.
"I'm so happy," said Laine Nunn, who is Hines's daughter. "I know my dad's here. I wore his jacket today."
Nunn came from in Kentucky for the race, which was held one day after her father's funeral. Hines died of an accidental drowning.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Behaving Badly proved she is in the best form of her career with an easy win in Saturday's $107,000 at Santa Anita.
Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Behaving Badly ($2.40) ran six furlongs in 1:09.09, finishing 4 3/4 lengths in front of Awesome Lady in the field of six fillies and mares. The victory marked Behaving Badly's third consecutive win, a streak that includes the Grade 1 Santa Monica Handicap here last month.
Behaving Badly was so heavily bet that she attracted $517,708 of the $545,016 bet to show. There was a minus show pool of $90,498.
