ARCADIA, Calif. - The field was barely away from the starting gate in the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream Park in January when trainer Dan Hendricks knew that Cozy Guy was beaten.
Instead of being near the front, Cozy Guy was at the back of the field.
"Twenty feet out of the gate, we knew it was a disaster," he said.
finished last of 12, ending a six-race streak of top-three finishes. The streak included a win in the $250,000 California Cup Classic in October.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won three graded-stakes races over the last two weekends, again will hold the upper hand when he sends out defending champion Lion Tamer and his talented stablemate Value Plus in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Richter Scale Handicap.
will be the starting highweight in the Richter Scale, toting 119 pounds, three more than he carried to a three-quarter-length victory against Coach Jimi Lee in last year's edition of the seven-furlong Richter Scale. Value Plus, who runs as a separate betting interest, carries 114 pounds.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Eleven 3-year-olds will audition for berths in the April 2 Oregon Derby in Saturday's Preview Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile affair with a purse of $7,500.
The lone stakes winner in the field is Raggidy Rowe, a son of Superior Success who is trained by Sammy Davis. Raggidy Rowe exits a victory over Oregon-breds in the McFadden Memorial on Feb. 18, when he came from well back to prevail by 2 1/4 lengths over Big Tuff and Ugly in 1:50.08 for 1 1/16 miles. Raggidy Rowe will carry top weight of 121 pounds, with jockey Shawna Barber retaining the mount.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Raggidy Rowe, who feasted on statebred competition in his authoritative win in last month's McFadden Memorial at 1 1/16 miles, will be out to show that he can handle open company in Saturday's Preview Stakes at the same distance.
At stake is a berth in the 1 1/8-mile Oregon Derby on April 2, which has been trainer Sammy Davis's goal for the strapping gelding all season.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Azeri would dig it.
The field for the Grade 3, $175,000 race named in her honor Saturday at Oaklawn is so deep that the cast of six includes a Grade 1 winner in Island Sand, a Grade 2 winner in La Reason, and a Grade 3 winner in Fencelineneighbor. There's also a horse shooting for her fourth straight win in Casual Attitude, a Todd Pletcher-trained Gulfstream invader coming off a win in Colony Band, and a recent stakes winner in Injustice.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Kentucky Derby trail may be rolling directly through New Orleans this weekend but a second-level allowance race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday could yield one or more future Derby candidates, including another promising 3-year-old from trainer Nick Zito's barn.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - As trainer Brian Pitnick prepares for the biggest race of his young training career, bringing Stellar Magic into Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows, the excitement is tempered by the stress.
"I'm finding out when you have a good horse, it's less fun and more business," said Pitnick, 45, a former lawyer who has been training for 2 1/2 years. "It's exciting, but I'm feeling pressure. This is my Kentucky Derby."
ARCADIA, Calif. - Members of the Santa Anita board of stewards said Thursday that they would speak to trainer Jeff Mullins regarding controversial remarks attributed to him in a newspaper article last weekend and that one of Mullins's clients would be sanctioned for a heckling incident related to the comments.
Purses at Charles Town Races have been cut by 20 percent across the board to address predicted revenue shortfalls from slot-machine gambling at the track, an executive of the Charles Town Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association said Thursday.
Don Combs, the association's executive director, said horsemen were told of the decision Thursday morning. Average daily purse distribution at Charles Town will decline from approximately $180,000 to $145,000, Combs said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - If Shake You Down's performance in an allowance race last month was a true indication of where he's at physically, then he will very tough to beat in Saturday's $100,000 Toboggan Handicap at Aqueduct.
Shake You Down will meet five rivals in the Grade 3 Toboggan, to be run at six furlongs over the inner track. The Toboggan, originally scheduled for seven furlongs over the main track, will only have four betting interests because of a three-horse entry. Thus, it will be run as race 3 on the nine-race card.
