INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Cozy Guy, the winner of the $250,000 last October, is fighting for his life because of a liver ailment, according to his trainer, Dan Hendricks.
Cozy Guy was sent to the San Luis Rey Equine Clinic for treatment in early July, but the situation has remained grave, Hendricks said.
"Something has attacked the liver," Hendricks said. "We're trying to do everything we can. They've been giving him lots of fluids and antibiotics."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - At some point in their careers, the eight fillies and mares entered in Wednesday's seventh race at Hollywood Park have either won, placed, or started in stakes.
For many, a start in a $55,000 optional claimer over 1 1/16 miles on turf is designed to get them back to that level, perhaps as quickly as the Del Mar meeting that begins July 20.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Carl Lizza's Flying Zee Stables is running away with the Belmont Park owner's title, with 17 wins from 87 starters. But while Flying Zee's wins are more than double any other owner's, Flying Zee trails Frank Stronach by about $25,000 in purse money won.
There's a simple way to tell summer has hit full stride in Kentucky: Thoroughbred action has moved two hours west from Churchill Downs to Ellis Park, where the living is easier and the racing takes on a different look.
A 41-day meet begins Wednesday at Ellis in Henderson, Ky., and will continue through its traditional conclusion on Labor Day, Sept. 5. The highlight of the meet will come Aug. 20, when the newly reconfigured Big Four Stakes Saturday, featuring the Grade 3 Gardenia Stakes, will be held for the first time.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Deputy Country, Alberta's reigning horse of the year, bought himself a huge reprieve when he sprang the upset of the young Northlands season with a stunning runaway victory in the $50,000 Spangled Jimmy Handicap here Saturday.
Deputy Country, owned by Arnie Heppner and trained by Red Smith, had worked decently enough but had lost decisively in three stakes appearances this season.
"He had some tough races at Calgary this spring and it took its toll," Smith said. "[Saturday], he got away from the speed."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - I'm the Tiger and My Cousin Matt, the third-place finisher in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint, head an accomplished eight-horse field in Wednesday's feature, a six-furlong allowance for non-winners of $45,660 in 2005.
I'm the Tiger, a speedy Stronach Stable runner, won the 2004 Bold Venture Handicap, but he bypassed this year's renewal of that race on Saturday. He hasn't started since winning a 6 1/2-furlong allowance Oct. 3, when he received a big 107 Beyer Speed Figure.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Ontrack gains were offset by a slight decline in offtrack business as all-sources wagering remained static at the 52-day Churchill Downs spring meet that ended Sunday.
Daily wagering from all sources averaged $11,253,795, a number that was remarkably close to the $11,252,299 average from the corresponding 2004 meet. Churchill was holding its first meet since its $121 million renovation was completed, leading to a double-digit percent increase in ontrack wagering, but that number was negated by the slight decrease in offtrack wagering.
English Channel takes aim at a $5 million jackpot while Spring House looks for a cleaner trip in the Grade 3, $750,000 at Colonial Downs on Saturday.
The second annual Virginia Million Day tops the biggest day of the meet at Colonial Downs. The 10-race card gets under way at 1 p.m.
It features the richest-ever Virginia Derby as well as two 1 1/8-mile grass stakes each worth $200,000: the Grade 3 All Along Breeders' Cup Stakes for fillies and mares and the Virginia Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.
Delaware Park will formally debut a pick six bet on Saturday that will allow the bettor to select which six races to include in the sequence, under a new type of wager that is being marketed by a subsidiary of the financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald.
Southern California-based trainer Jeff Mullins came all the way across the country for one race last year, and Summer Wind Dancer made the long trip worthwhile when she won the Delaware Handicap. Mullins is now going to see if he can pull off a similar feat, this time with the 3-year-old filly Brooke's Halo.
A wire-to-wire winner of the Hollywood Oaks in her most recent start, Brooke's Halo is one of three graded stakes winners in a field of eight entered Monday for Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park.
