Stakes purses at the Del Mar summer meeting will more closely resemble prize money levels at the 2019 season than the 2020 season which was affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a schedule released by the track Thursday.
Del Mar has scheduled 39 stakes worth $7.15 million this summer, compared to 40 stakes worth $7.31 million in 2019 and 39 such races worth $5.25 million in 2020.
Fair Grounds on Wednesday announced a 10 percent across-the-board purse increase for the last 13 cards of its 2020-21 race meet. The increase, spurred by strong simulcast handle, according to a news release, is the third of the season and goes into effect March 11.
Fair Grounds also has added a card on Wednesday, March 24, to make up for a program lost to weather on Feb. 13.
Finally, first post for the March 20 Louisiana Derby card has been moved back to 11:20 a.m. Central from noon in order to accommodate NBC, which will broadcast the Louisiana Derby.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Lake Avenue returns to the site of her victory in the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes in 2019 when she heads a field of seven entered in Saturday’s $125,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational going a one-turn mile.
Lake Avenue went winless in four starts at age 3, including a fourth-place finish as the 4-5 favorite in the Busher Invitational here last March. She is already ahead of the game at 4 with an allowance win going seven furlongs at Gulfstream on Feb. 3.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Share the Ride has hardly been slowed by a quarter crack this winter.
Share the Ride, winner of the Fall Highweight at Aqueduct in November and the General George Stakes two weeks ago at Laurel Park, will seek a third Grade 3 stakes victory when he starts as the 124-pound highweight in Saturday’s Tom Fool Stakes at Aqueduct.
In New York, Share the Ride starts under trainer Antonio Arriaga’s name. Outside of New York, he runs for trainer Miguel Penaloza, who oversees the gelding’s training at Parx Racing.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – An equipment change helped Wipe the Slate achieve his first career victory. Trainer Doug O’Neill hopes another change will help the 3-year-old get his second one.
O’Neill will remove the blinkers from Wipe the Slate’s equipment when he runs in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Wipe the Slate will attempt to rebound from a last-place finish in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis on Jan. 30 at Santa Anita.
The longshot Major Cabbie will be trainer Peter Miller’s lone starter in Saturday’s Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita at a time when his stable has depth in the sprint division.
Major Cabbie has not started since a last-place finish in the Native Dancer Stakes at Laurel Park in December 2019, missing 2020 because of a splint bone injury, Miller said. Major Cabbie was in training briefly in early 2020 and resumed workouts in December.
Delta Downs will increase overnight purses by approximately 10 percent starting Monday, according to Chris Warren, director of racing for the Vinton, La., track.
“Handle is going well,” he said.
The increase is the second of the meet. The season runs through April 16.
Delta lost four days of racing due to the recent winter storm system, and those lost races are being made up by adding races to existing cards, Warren said.
Remington opens Sunday
In the summer of 2019, Flying Scotsman was a new arrival at trainer Jack Sisterson’s stable. Then 3, Flying Scotsman worked on turf at Keeneland with Sisterson and fellow trainer Wesley Ward watching.
“Wesley said, ‘That is a Grade 1 horse,’ ” Sisterson recalled on Wednesday.
:: Get Brad Free’s Betting Strategies for Saturday’s card at Santa Anita
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Champion Monomoy Girl launched her season Sunday with a win in the Grade 3 Bayakoa at Oaklawn, and has come out of the race in excellent fashion, according to trainer Brad Cox.
Monomoy Girl traveled back to her Fair Grounds base Tuesday, along with champion Essential Quality. Cox said plans are for Monomoy Girl to return to Oaklawn for the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom on April 17.
There is no trainer more focused on winning the Kentucky Derby, or with clientele who share the same goal, as Bob Baffert.
In the years since he first won the Derby back in 1997 with Silver Charm, his stable size has grown, and Derby stock has become the biggest part of the portfolio. The combination of choice horses and a Hall of Fame trainer has resulted in three Derby victories and two Triple Crowns in the last six years. With six Derby victories overall, Baffert is tied with the legendary Ben Jones for the lead among trainers.
