ALBANY, Calif. - What Thursday's Golden Gate Fields card lacks in glamour, it makes up in good betting opportunities.
The two best races on the eight-race card are a maiden $25,000 claimer for 2-year-old fillies and a $16,000 claimer on the turf for 3-year-olds, but there is depth in all the day's races.
The maiden claimer seems perhaps the day's only race with a true standout in , who has shown improvement in each of her three starts.
CHICAGO - Chris Block has made his mark winning batches of maiden and allowance races, with consistent success at the stakes level. A claiming trainer he has not been. But Block hooked a good one when he claimed Precocious Kat for the Moabo Stables on Sept. 16 at Arlington. Taken for $25,000, Precocious Kat finished third in a second-level allowance race before clearing that condition by 11 lengths on Oct. 26 at Hawthorne, and she climbs the allowance ladder in the featured first race on Thursday at Hawthorne.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Seeking the Carat, who is coming off a solid second-place finish over six furlongs on turf here Oct. 9, appears to have found a favorable spot in Thursday's $71,300 feature at Woodbine. A field of eight has been entered for the 6 1/2-furlong race, a third-level allowance with an optional claiming clause of $80,000.
Seeking the Carat is entered for $77,500 and will be looking for his second win in four starts since being claimed for $57,500 by owner-trainer John Cardella here Aug. 6.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fields have been extraordinarily big at Churchill Downs this fall, but they may be taking a minor hit for the balance of the meet. The Fair Grounds at Louisiana Downs meet, which begins Saturday in Bossier City, La., has decreased the available pool of horses from which Churchill racing secretary Doug Bredar and his staff have been drawing since the meet began Oct. 30.
MIAMI - There were stars aplenty on the fourth annual Florida Million Day card, which showcased statebreds in eight stakes races for all age groups here last Saturday.
The No. 1 star for the day goes to the 7-year-old gelding Revved Up for his performance in the Bonnie Heath Turf Cup. A homebred son of With Approval, Revved Up rallied to a convincing 2 1/2-length victory over even-money favorite Silver Tree in the Bonnie Heath, earning his fifth victory on the year. Revved Up has not finished worse than second in seven starts this year.
Better-than-expected business at offtrack betting parlors in the New Orleans area has spurred a purse hike for the Fair Grounds at Louisiana Downs meet, which begins Saturday in Bossier City, La. Purses in overnight races will be increased by $1,000 during the 37-day meet, with four stakes on Jan. 14 each receiving a $50,000 boost. The Risen Star, Silverbulletday, Bayou Breeders' Cup, and Duncan Kenner are now worth $250,000 each, according to a Churchill Downs Inc. news release.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Jammed Lovely Stakes represented a golden opportunity for Charming Ruckus here at Woodbine last Sunday.
A seven-furlong race for Ontario-foaled 3-year-old fillies, the Jammed Lovely attracted a field that included several underachievers, and Charming Ruckus, who had been solid of late, looked to have an edge.
The betting public agreed, making Charming Ruckus the 9-5 favorite, and she rallied smartly to score by a length under Todd Kabel.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Bob Baffert is off to a hot start at Hollywood Park's fall meeting. He won five races the first five days of the meet, including a sweep of the weekend's stakes, and he'll shoot for another stakes sweep this weekend in races for 2-year-olds.
Baffert will send out Da Stoops in the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue Stakes on Saturday and Cotton Bay in the Moccasin Stakes for fillies on Sunday. Both races are worth $100,000 and cover seven furlongs.
Victor Espinoza has the mount on both runners.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It took more than two years to get Robledo back to the races, and after an initial misstep, he has turned in two excellent efforts, including a second-place finish in the Hinds Invitational at Fairplex in his last start.
is taking a step back on Wednesday at Hollywood Park, into a third-level allowance race, but it is a means to an end for trainer Vladimir Cerin, who would like to use Wednesday's seventh race as a springboard for Robledo to the Grade 3, $100,000 Native Diver Handicap on Dec. 10.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Heavy rain deluged The Meadowlands Racetrack in October and the business numbers took a pounding at the meet, which ended Saturday night.
The track posted double-digit declines in average ontrack and total handle compared with 2004 for the abbreviated 25-day meet.
Daily ontrack handle dropped 12.3 percent to $366,795. Average daily total handle on The Meadowlands races from all sources fell 15.8 percent to $1,855,835.
