Preemptive Strike, a top contender in Saturday's Grade 1, $200,000 Breeders' Cup Steeplechase at Far Hills, N.J., was scratched Friday because of an abscess in his left front hoof.
The scratch reduces the BC Steeplechase field to five, including likely favorite Hirapour and McDynamo, who has won the last two editions of the race.
Preemptive Strike will now point to the Grade 1 Colonial Cup on Nov. 26 in Camden, S.C.
ELMONT, N.Y. - One week before the best horses in the world converge on New York for the 22nd Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, many of the best horses bred in this state will be on display at Belmont Park in the 12th annual New York Showcase Day program.
All 10 races on Saturday's card will be restricted to New York-breds, including seven stakes with purses totaling $1 million. A total of 134 horses were entered on the card, with six of the seven stakes drawing a minimum of 12 horses. First post is 1 p.m.
ELMONT, N.Y. - If you liked last year's Hudson Handicap, then you're in luck. You may actually get to see it all over again.
Friendly Island, Clever Electrician and Papua - the top three finishers from last year's Hudson - are back to give it another shot.
Clever Electrician was sent off the favorite in last year's Hudson based on his impressive win in the General Douglas MacArthur Handicap. Shortly after last year's Hudson, Clever Electrician was found to have a hairline fracture in his knee.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Certifiably Crazy, who showed a new dimension when rallying to an easy victory here last month in the Ashley T. Cole Handicap, will be favored to duplicate the performance in Saturday's $150,000 Mohawk Handicap at Belmont Park. The Mohawk is one of seven stakes on the New York Showcase Day program.
ELMONT, N.Y. - If you put a line through the four Grade 1 races Seeking the Ante has run in this year, her record is quite impressive. Since Saturday's $125,000 Iroquois Handicap for New York-bred fillies and mares at seven furlongs is not a Grade 1, Seeking the Ante looks very formidable.
, a half-sister to 2004 Florida Derby winner Friends Lake, is already a graded stakes winner going seven furlongs at Belmont Park, having won the Grade 2 Nassau County Handicap here in May. Two starts back, Seeking the Ante won a second-level allowance race going seven furlongs at Saratoga.
Classic Pack and Sharp Humor present Belmont bettors with an interesting decision to make in Saturday's $100,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes for 2-year-olds at one mile: Is Classic Pack really that much better than Sharp Humor, as he suggested when he ran away with the New York Breeders' Futurity early last month at Finger Lakes? Or, was the bad beating Sharp Humor took as the favorite at Finger Lakes an aberration, a possibility that was raised when Sharp Humor rebounded with a fast win in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes four weeks ago?
On Saturday at Belmont, trainer Todd Pletcher will have two chances to add to his ever-growing collection of juvenile stakes trophies when he saddles the uncoupled entry of Summer Palace and Cinderella's Dream in the $100,000 Maid of the Mist for New York-bred fillies.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Kate Winslet and On the Bus won the split divisions of the Yaddo Handicap at Saratoga, and for two months since, fierce arguments have raged in the noted Saratoga Springs artists' retreat over who was better. They can put down their paintbrushes and stop fighting on Saturday, when Kate Winslet and On the Bus meet to settle that burning question in the $150,000 Ticonderoga Stakes at Belmont Park.
Hirapour will try to lock up a second straight Eclipse Award in Saturday afternoon's Grade 1, $200,000 Breeders' Cup Steeplechase at Far Hills, N.J.
, a 9-year-old gelding, faces five rivals in steeplechase racing's richest event. Having already won two Grade 1 stakes this year, Hirapour can clinch the title with a victory in the 2 5/8-mile race over 14 fences.
For Hirapour's owner, Eldon Farm, owned by Atlanta business executive Ken Luke, a second straight championship would be a remarkable accomplishment for a relative newcomer to the sport.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Riders based at Belmont Park said Thursday morning that they are upset with the New York Racing Association over inconsistencies in conveying and reporting to the public the esoteric ways in which weight is calculated.
Much of the contentiousness stems from the fallout over grand jury indictments last month of Mario Sclafani, the clerk of scales, and Braulio Baeza, his assistant, both of whom were subsequently fired by NYRA. The riders believe misunderstandings over the ways in which weight is calculated led to the indictments.
