Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Ready and Alluring has final Oaks work

Michael Burns Photo Ltd.
Ready and Alluring, George Martens up, goes four furlongs in a bullet 48 seconds Wednesday morning at Woodbine. She makes her local and stakes debut in Sunday's $500,000 Woodbine Oaks.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Ready and Alluring will be making just her third career start and her stakes and local debut in Sunday's $500,000 Labatt Woodbine Oaks.

She will have plenty of supporters, though, based on what she has shown in her brief career.

"I'd like to have had a few more races in her," said trainer Randy Schulhofer. "Being in the situation we're in, we'll do the best with what we've got."

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Callfire has his work cut out for him

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Aggie Ordonez has done it again.

"I seem to have the knack of picking out the toughest races for him - I always meet the toughest bear in the neighborhood," she said of Friday's task for Callfire, who just graduated by 10 lengths in an overpowering performance at Bay Meadows on May 5.

will be meeting some pretty tough racehorses Friday in a first-level allowance race at one mile at Golden Gate Fields.

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Hastings riders get suspensions for hostilities

Jockeys Cayetano Chaparro and Dave Wilson received suspensions for an altercation that occurred during the running of the sixth race at Hastings last Friday.

The incident began when Chaparro, aboard Hey Mikey, elbowed Wilson, who was riding Some Devil You Are, just past the seven-sixteenths pole. Wilson responded by forcing Chaparro into the rail on the stretch turn. Following the race, Wilson also instigated a physical altercation with Chaparro in the jockeys' quarters.

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Lord of the Game tries turf

It's Claiming Crown prep day at Arlington on Friday, at least for Lord of the Game, who is considered the early favorite for the $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Canterbury Park on July 16.

Winner of the Grade 3 Hanshin Handicap, is the class of the ninth race, a $14,000 starter allowance at a mile on turf for horses that have raced for a claiming price of $10,000 or less in 2004-2005 - provided he handles the surface. Not once in his seven-race career has he tried the grass.

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Favorite no lock in turf test

BOSSIER CITY, La. - The recent trend of generous prices here - Saturday's card was filled with longshot winners - could continue in Friday's entry-level allowance feature. An evenly matched group of 12 fillies and mares run 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.

, third in the Fantasia Stakes in her last start, makes her grass debut Friday and may be a slight favorite.

, a maiden winner over the turf last summer, has valuable experience over the surface and will be making her first start of the year. She is trained by John Gelner and will be ridden by Don Simington.

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Fairmount fights for slice

A pair of upstate vs. downstate battles are threatening to escalate into civil war after the Hawthorne-based National Jockey Club quietly put the kibosh on a piece of legislation that would have netted Fairmount Park about $150,000 in much-needed revenue.

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Lincoln track report

Dime superfectas have proved themselves a success, as action on the wager continues to improve each week. Payoffs on last weekend's cards ranged from a season-low $4.76 to a healthy $214.72 for the 10-cent wager. The pools on superfectas have averaged right around half of what is wagered into the trifecta pool each race, but at 10 cents per combination, the number of patrons playing the new wager is obviously much higher.

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Prairie Meadows track report

A barn at Prairie Meadows remained quarantined Wednesday pending the results of tests to determine whether a horse who had been stabled in the barn has the equine herpes virus.

Monday afternoon, an unraced 3-year-old trained by Paul Pearson was transported to Iowa State University and placed in isolation after displaying a high temperature and other possible signs of the virus.

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Remington Park track report

Steve Asmussen, who leads all trainers in North America in wins in 2005, said he will send a division of horses to Remington Park for the first time in years, provided he is granted stalls. Stall applications are due June 14.

Remington is scheduled to race 66 dates for Thoroughbreds this year, from Aug. 5 to Nov. 28.

Wed, 06/08/2005 - 00:00

Castro's record feat still creating buzz

Jim Lisa
Jockey Eddie Castro celebrates his record nine-win afternoon.

MIAMI - The Belmont Stakes commands most of the racing world's attention this week, but not necessarily here at Calder, where jockey Eddie Castro's feat of winning 14 races in a two-day span, including a record nine on last Saturday's card, is still the talk of the town.

Castro's nine winners set a North American record for most victories by a jockey on a single program. The late Chris Antley won nine races on Oct. 31, 1987, but did so at two different racetracks, Aqueduct in the afternoon and The Meadowlands at night.