OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There will be a mandatory payout of the Empire 6 pool each racing day in January, the New York Racing Association announced Tuesday.
The entire pool, minus the 20 percent takeout, will be paid out to those who select the most winners in the sequence on the wager, typically offered on the last six races of the card. The Empire 6 is a wager with 20-cent minimum bet.
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Happy Farm, the 2019 Grade 3 Fall Highweight winner, will make his first start in 10 months and first for Linda Rice when he runs in Saturday’s $100,000 Gravesend Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs.
Happy Farm finished second by a head to Firenze Fire in the 2019 Gravesend before running second to Mind Control in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap here on March 7.
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Whoa Nellie came out of her decisive victory Saturday in the $75,000 Joseph E. “Spanky” Broussard Memorial Stakes in good condition, and if all goes well will start next in the $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 31 at Sam Houston Race Park.
“Everything seems good on her,” trainer Larry Jones said Monday. “She’s already made it back to Oaklawn Park and we’re penciling in the Houston Ladies Classic.”
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Mystic Guide’s preparation for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup hit a snag last week when the 3-year-old colt spiked a temperature, said trainer Michael Stidham.
“He’s doing well now, and he’s been temp-free the last three days,” Stidham said. “He was coughing a little and must have caught a little virus.”
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Boosted by record handle on Saturday’s opening day, Santa Anita showed a 14.1 percent increase in all-sources handle for the first two days of the season compared to corresponding days in 2019.
Saturday’s 11-race program handled $23,003,159, better than the previous record of $20,491,016 set in 2018 or $19,021,102 from last year. Saturday’s figure included ontrack handle of $290,813 from a small group of owners allowed to attend on days their horses are racing. The track is not open to the public because of the pandemic.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Chad Brown had his final California runner of 2020 on Sunday when Miss Teheran finished fourth in the Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita.
The race honors the late trainer who played an influential role at the start of Brown’s career. Brown, 42, worked for Frankel before starting his own stable in the 2000s. Brown was honored with the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding trainer from 2016 to 2019.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Turf sprints starting from a newly constructed backstretch chute are likely to be daily fixtures when the weather permits at Santa Anita this winter.
On opening weekend, the track began running sprints at six and 6 1/2 furlongs from a chute adjacent to the seven-furlong chute on the main track. On the new turf chute, horses run as much as a furlong before crossing the main track and joining the oval portion of the turf course approximately 5 1/2 furlongs from the finish.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The new year will ring in here Friday with a trio of turf stakes, including the $75,000 Janus, a five-furlong race that features a match between defending champion Extravagant Kid and multiple graded stakes winner Imprimis, both of whom exit the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland.
The outstanding card also features the $75,000 Abundantia for fillies and mares going five furlongs and the $75,000 Cash Run at one mile for 3-year-old fillies.
