LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For the first time, the Kentucky Derby will include a corporate sponsor in its official name.
Churchill Downs announced Wednesday that the title of the 132nd Derby on May 6 will be the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands. Yum! is based in Louisville and is the parent company of such worldwide brands as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Long John Silver's.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The Aqueduct stewards voided a claim from Saturday's second race after it was learned that the horse was not who it was purported to be.
Trainer John Campo Jr. claimed a horse he thought was a 5-year-old mare named Free Dip, who finished fifth of six in a $20,000 claiming race Saturday. Follow-up work by NYRA's horse identification office revealed the identity of the mare to be Miss Stella, also 5. It was further determined that Miss Stella made all 27 of her career starts under the name Free Dip.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The National Weather Service forecast for Friday in south Florida has the possibility of rain, and it is even more dire for Saturday, when thunderstorms are predicted for the day of the Donn Handicap. Keeping an eye on the weather will be trainer Christophe Clement, who will have the horse to beat in Friday's feature race at Gulfstream - if it remains on the turf.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - At the beginning of the millennium, Joe Orseno had one of the most powerful stables in the country, training exclusively for Frank Stronach's Adena Springs Farm. During the 2000 season alone, the pair combined to win the Preakness with Red Bullet, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with Macho Uno, the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf with Perfect Sting, as well as the Grade 1 Pimlico Special and Grade 2 Stephen Foster with Golden Missile.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Bank Audit, the beaten 1-2 favorite in last year's Correction Handicap at Aqueduct, will be forced to miss Saturday's 66th running of the Correction after developing a temperature earlier in the week, trainer Frank Laboccetta Jr. said Wednesday.
Bank Audit, a multiple Grade 2 stakes winner last year, was the assigned co-highweight at 118 pounds.
"[Tuesday] she was coughing a little bit, and had a little temperature this morning; we had to treat her,'' Laboccetta said. "It messed up our plans. She was all ready to go.''
Evangeline Downs announced this week that the purses for the track's two showcase events, the Evangeline Mile and the D.S. "Shine" Young Futurity, have each been increased to $150,000 for the 2006 season. Seventeen stakes events worth a combined $1.5 million have been scheduled for the meeting, which begins March 30 and concludes Sept. 4.
Valentine's Day celebrations begin a little early this year at Evangeline Downs with the inaugural running of the $50,000 Sweetheart Stakes on Friday night. An evenly matched field of nine fillies and mares was entered for the Sweetheart, a one-mile event that will be run as the ninth of 11 races.
The first training races of the year at Retama Park will be held Friday. The track plans to conduct training races into April, for both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses.
Retama operates as a training center during its offseason and has more than 600 horses based at the track, according to Doug Vair, spokesman for Retama. The track's Quarter Horse meet will begin April 28, and the Thoroughbred meet will begin Aug. 11.
Ana Taylor will move back to the overnight ranks and dirt Friday night, when she starts as one of the top contenders in the featured seventh race at Sam Houston. The one-mile race is for 3-year-old fillies who have never won two races.
Ana Taylor faced stakes rivals on turf last out and finished sixth in the $80,000 Bedanken during the Fair Grounds meet at Louisiana Downs on Jan. 15. One start before, she was second in an optional claiming allowance. Trainer Jim Hudson has given the mount to Justin Shepherd.
Run him short and you get a lot of Bang for your buck. That was evident Saturday in the $50,000 Budweiser Handicap at Sunland Park, where Bang showed off his speed and went wire to wire as the favorite.
Owned by William Hedrick and trained by Jackie Payton, Bang has been a whiz here going short. He owns the Sunland track records for 1,000 yards and 6 1/2 furlongs. Saturday's Budweiser, at five furlongs, gave him nine wins in 17 starts for earnings of over $236,000.
