MIAMI - Entries were drawn Monday at Calder for Saturday's Florida Million Day program, and the one horse conspicuous by his absence from the overnight sheet was the local 2-year-old sensation In Summation, who had been scheduled to run in the $150,000 Jack Price Juvenile Stakes.
The Florida Million is a series of eight stakes for horses bred in Florida.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Horse racing has a long history of rallying to worthy causes, and that spirit will be evident again Thursday night at The Meadowlands Racetrack in the Katrina Invitational Jockey Challenge.
"Challenge" is a misnomer. No one will be keeping score. There is no trophy or monetary reward at the end of the evening.
A stellar lineup of jockeys will compete in four designated races, and all mount fees and commissions will be donated to the Racetrack Chaplaincy for distribution to Louisiana horsemen devastated by the hurricane that pummeled the Gulf Coast.
CHICAGO - Calling all members of the Super Ladybug fan club. Hello? Anyone?
Yes, it is that kind of a fall Thursday at Hawthorne Race Course in southwest Chicago. The kind of November day when the sun sets early, and Super Ladybug is part of the nominally featured eighth race. The filly with one of the top-five names on the Chicago circuit was one of 11 Illinois-bred females entered in this entry-level route allowance.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Shillelagh Slew failed to make much of an impact as the favorite in Woodbine's $253,200 Cup and Saucer last time out. But trainer Mike DePaulo has reason to believe that Shillelagh Slew was not at his best that day, and DePaulo will be looking for a much better performance in Thursday's $250,000 Coronation Futurity.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Facing the challenge of operating a six-week race meet without a turf course, Hollywood Park tiptoes into its fall meet on Wednesday. The track's president, Jack Liebau, recognizes that the 27-day meet - an autumn dirt festival - will be a tough sell.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Consider Sunday's victories by Dream of Summer and Moscow Burning to be tune-ups to bigger things in coming months.
The two California-bred mares rebounded from losses in their previous starts to win stakes on California Cup Day - Dream of Summer defended her title in the .
Both are likely to start against graded stakes company in coming months, trying to improve on already stellar records.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Although the Oak Tree Racing Association did not release detailed handle figures for its 31-day meet at Santa Anita, which ended Sunday, both ontrack and all-sources handle were down.
Ontrack handle declined approximately 3 percent, said Sherwood Chillingworth, Oak Tree's executive vice president. Overall handle fell 2 percent, according to a statement released by the track.
Chillingworth said a strong final week helped to reduce some declines earlier in the meet.
The tornado that ripped through western Kentucky and southwestern Indiana early Sunday, killing 22 people, inflicted widespread property damage at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. No people were seriously injured at Ellis, but three racehorses died, and dozens more were injured, as a result of the tornado.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Some new concepts in racing work, and some don't. This one worked - and now Churchill Downs fans can count on the "Stars of Tomorrow" program being a highlight of future fall meets.
Eleven races, all for 2-year-olds, comprised Stars of Tomorrow, which drew huge fields, an ontrack crowd of 14,864, and major increases in ontrack and all-sources handle.
ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Bill Delia is basking in the glow of northern California's only Cal Cup victory.
His bargain purchase Bai and Bai turned the tables on the Jeff Bonde-trained Sierra Sweetie on Sunday, when they ran one-two in the at Oak Tree at Santa Anita. In their previous meeting, Sierra Sweetie beat Bai and Bai in the Carmel Handicap at Bay Meadows on Oct. 9.
"It was very exciting," said Delia of arguably the second biggest win of his career, next to the 1997 California Derby with I'm a Jewel, who was a $6,000 purchase.
