OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Joe Pierce admires the way Gadget Man tries hard in most races.
Too often, however, those efforts fall a neck or a nose short.
gets another crack at his first win of the season in the $41,000 allowance feature Wednesday at a 1 1/8 miles over the turf course.
Not that the 4-year-old Gadget Man hasn't come close.
Three starts back, Gadget Man gamely rallied to miss by a head in a main-track allowance race here.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Juan Serey is starting over again at Monmouth Park.
Serey, 56, lost his training license two years ago. He received another license last week from the New Jersey Racing Commission and has already set up shop at Monmouth.
"This is home for me," Serey said.
Monmouth is where Serey soared to prominence.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Just when you thought things might have been getting a little humdrum at the Churchill Downs spring meet, along comes a pick six to liven things up.
No one hit the pick six during any of the five racing days here last week, so as a six-day week starts Wednesday, the carryover is at $104,494, a number that could triple by the time pick six wagering closes at about 3:15 p.m.
The Churchill pick six, a $2 minimum wager, comprises races 5 through 10. Here is a brief rundown of those races:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The corollary to a hot streak is a cooling-off period, but don't tell that to Joe Woodard.
"I don't want to know anything about it," he said, joking.
Indeed, after reeling off a track-record 10 straight victories earlier in the Churchill Downs spring meet, Woodard has continued to win at a remarkable pace. By sending out two more winners, Mean Kisser and Adham, here Sunday, Woodard has won with 17 of 35 starters.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Whatever set of stars has aligned, whatever pattern some spread tea leaves have formed, Christine Janks hopes the fates keep Arlington's horse racing world ordered just as it has been through the first six weeks of this meet.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Always one of the most popular stops on the northern California fair circuit, the Alameda County Fair begins its two-week run Wednesday with full fields and a variety of promotions geared to attracting new fans.
The meet runs for 11 days through July 10, with the only dark day July 5. Post time is 12:15 daily.
Eighty-seven runners signed up for Wednesday's 10 races, with six of the eight Thoroughbred races attracting at least eight horses, which allows for superfecta wagering.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Melnyk Racing Stable and trainer David Bell had a good day Sunday at Woodbine, winning an allowance race with Wakefields and running a close second in the Singspiel Stakes with Shop Hill.
Melnyk and Bell will send out Passage Road in Wednesday's feature, an allowance for Ontario-sired fillies and mares.
EDMONTON, Alberta - The story of Sixthirtyjoe continues.
Sixthirtyjoe, a 7-year-old gelding owned, trained, and bred by Deanne Davies, kept alive his streak of winning a stakes race every year since first coming to the track at age 3.
Under Rickey Walcott, Sixthirtyjoe captured the $50,000 Journal Handicap by a head at Northlands Park on Saturday.
Rallying from far back in a field of nine, Sixthirtyjoe ($11.40) got up just in time to subdue 15-1 longshot Hot Talk, who had surged into the lead at the head of the stretch.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - The Alameda County Fair has taken a new approach to racing this year.
Considered one of the two best stops on the annual summer circuit, along with Santa Rosa, Pleasanton has lowered its sights this year, carding more cheaper races than in the past.
Last year, two-thirds of the Thoroughbred races at Pleasanton were for a $12,500 claiming tag or less. This year, it's nearly three-quarters of the races in the condition book.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Donnie Von Hemel won the $50,000 Miller Lite last Saturday at Lone Star Park with Queena Corrina, and will try to keep rolling over the July 4 holiday weekend. He has two horses, City Code and Twixy, for Lone Star's $100,000 Alysheba Breeders' Cup and $100,000 Lone Star Oaks this Saturday.
But his action will not be limited to Texas.
