AUBURN, Wash. - Marva Jean has one great asset as a racehorse - she can run faster than just about anybody for two or three furlongs.
It has been the task of Frank Lucarelli, Marva Jean's resourceful trainer, to figure out how best to capitalize on that asset. When she was 2 and 3, Lucarelli used Marva Jean's speed at the beginning of her races and was rewarded with three good wins from 12 starts. Too often, however, and always in stakes, she tired in the late going.
A barn at Prairie Meadows has been quarantined by Iowa state veterinarians pending the outcome of tests for the equine herpes virus in a horse stabled in the barn.
An unraced 3-year-old trained by Paul Pearson was taken from Prairie's Barn D-4 to Iowa State University on Monday evening and placed in isolation upon the advice of Pearson's veterinarian, Dr. Brad Brown. The horse was running a fever of 101.8 degrees on Monday, according to Pearson, and also displayed evidence of neurological distress.
Upon learning of the case, Prairie Meadows state vets
The Delaware Racing Commission has lifted a quarantine on 33 horses at Delaware Park, the commission's veterinarian said on Tuesday.
The 33 horses, who have all tested negative for strangles twice, will be allowed to train with the rest of the horse population at Delaware Park and will have all restrictions on their movement and travel lifted, according to Dr. Wesley Towers, the commission veterinarian. The horses were all from a barn where one horse tested positive for strangles two weeks ago, leading to the quarantine.
Apalachian Thunder last raced at Prairie Meadows when finishing fifth in the Iowa Sprint Handicap last July 4. He has since trained at Hollywood Park and Churchill Downs, and on Thursday he will resurface at Arlington Park.
All the moving around probably will prove worth the trouble when Apalachian Thunder goes off as the favorite in the Thursday feature, a $31,000 allowance with a $50,000 claiming option. The six-furlong event occupies the customary eighth-race feature spot at the Arlington Heights, Ill., track.
CINCINNATI - Forty minutes before the first live race on a steamy Sunday afternoon at River Downs, a small group of onlookers congregated outside the stall of a 3-year-old colt named The White Fox, who was moments away from running in his first race.
As trainer Bill Connelly made final preparations before sending him on his way to the paddock, The White Fox was in a serene mood. Your average young colt might have been prone to skittishness with all the activity going on around him, at a time of day that until now had been reserved for relaxation.
ELMONT, N.Y. - If all the stakes races this week at Belmont Park are as competitive as Wednesday's $60,000 England's Legend, handicappers will be working overtime.
The England's Legend, scheduled for nine furlongs over Belmont's inner turf, drew a full field of 12, though not all will run. Trainer Michael Dickinson said Dynamia would scratch to run in Sunday's Politely Stakes at Monmouth. Trainer Jonathan Sheppard may run only one of the two he entered.
, who finished sixth March 12, have come back to win.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Ghostzapper's brilliance in the Metropolitan Handicap still resonates on the Belmont Park backstretch. So much so that the connections of 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide were prompted to work their champion gelding on the turf Sunday morning in hopes of opening up another avenue and thus avoiding a confrontation with Ghostzapper later in the year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Four of the 36 Steve Asmussen-trained horses that have been in quarantine for equine herpes since May 17 at Barn 38 at Churchill Downs have tested positive for the virus in a second round of tests, Churchill officials reported Sunday.
The four horses have been taken from Barn 38 and placed in a Churchill barn that had been reserved for testing for alkalizing agents before quarantine restrictions were ordered May 17. Churchill said the four horses may soon be taken off the Churchill grounds to a separate quarantine facility, possibly at Keeneland.
Ramon Dominguez, the leading rider at Delaware Park, rode five winners at the track Monday. Dominguez won with Pardon My Sarong ($4.80) in the first, Flanked in Gold ($4.20) in the third, Formal Charade ($4.80) in the fourth, Tigress Bythetail ($5.20) in the sixth, and Umpateedle ($4.60) in the seventh.
One victory came at the expense of jockey Jeremy Rose. In the third race, Rose's mount, Power of the Porgi, finished first but was disqualified and placed second for bumping Flanked in Gold in the final jumps.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Last year at this time, Willmott Stables and trainer Tony Reinstedler had three standout grass fillies cranking up for what they hoped would be successful campaigns.
The year wound up being a productive one - for the most part. Sand Springs and Aud combined to win three stakes and more than $370,000 during their 4-year-old seasons, but their stablemate Baxter Hall was something of a disappointment, going winless in five starts after winning back-to-back races in March and April.
