INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Limehouse, the winner of consecutive stakes at Churchill Downs and Belmont Park this year, is a likely starter in the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park on July 9, trainer Todd Pletcher said on Tuesday.
Limehouse, who races for Dogwood Stable, will be making his first start in California. He has won 7 of 17 starts and $1,062,433.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A lack of entries has left Thursday's program at Hollywood Park with only 51 horses entered over eight races.
The card includes four races for maiden claimers and one maiden special weight race. Only one race drew eight entrants, four have seven entrants, and three have five.
The feature race is a $51,000 optional claimer over 1 1/16 miles for California-bred fillies and mares that has just five runners.
Two lucrative allowance races were not used after failing to draw sufficient entries.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Jockey Kent Desormeaux returns to Southern California on Thursday following a successful two-month stay in Japan. It is the females in his life that have made him anxious to return home.
"I'm going home to my girlfriends - my wife and the two best fillies that I ride," he said by telephone last weekend.
Sunday, Desormeaux rides Memorette in the $750,000 American Oaks and Ticker Tape in the $200,000 Royal Heroine Stakes at Hollywood Park. Last year, Desormeaux pulled an upset in the American Oaks aboard Ticker Tape.
Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, Pa., has rejoined the National Thoroughbred Racing Association after a five-year absence, representatives of both organizations said on Tuesday.
Philadelphia Park's membership becomes effective Jan. 1, 2006, and runs through 2010. The NTRA is aggressively seeking to sign new five-year membership agreements with tracks and horsemen's groups. All its current membership agreements expire at the end of this year.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Fans of raw speed have witnessed a surplus of talent in New York, with the likes of Ghostzapper, Speightstown, and Pico Central winning major sprint stakes the past couple of years.
The older male sprint division is currently on the thin side, however, so it will be interesting to see if Botanical can throw his hat into the ring when he makes his U.S. debut in Thursday's eighth-race feature at Belmont Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A whole new world opened to Prize Story this spring at Churchill Downs. After pretty much spinning his wheels for most of his career on dirt, a move to turf has transformed the 5-year-old gelding into a potential standout on the green.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Ken McPeek has saddled his last horse as a licensed trainer, at least for the near future. McPeek has officially turned over his entire stable to his former assistant Helen Pitts, who will be represented by her first starter, Cat Quatorze, on Friday at Churchill Downs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - El General seeks his fourth straight victory in Thursday's Woodbine headliner, a $62,500 optional claimer on the grass.
El General, a Stronach Stable runner trained by Justin Nixon, won a $20,000 claimer at Fort Erie when he returned from a nine-week layoff in early September. Despite encountering traffic problems in his next start, Sept. 23 at Woodbine, he scored a one-length victory against $40,000 opposition.
Hialeah Park renewed its bid to regain its racing license when officials from the track appeared before a three-judge panel in the Third District Court of Miami on Monday. The track's license was revoked last year after it had not run a meet since 2001.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The Hudson River Starter Handicap, the $37,500 featured event Thursday at Monmouth Park, offers an interesting wrinkle.
The Hudson, a one-mile race that drew six runners, will be open to horses bred in New Jersey and New York who have started for a claiming price of $20,000 or less in 2004-2005. It is rare to see a race that accommodates horses from the adjoining states.
"It's a concept that might catch on," said trainer Greg Sacco.
