Fort Erie Racetrack has announced the 86th running of the Prince of Wales Stakes has been scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 14, with a first race post time of 1 p.m.
A 1 3/16-mile dirt route for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, the $400,000 Prince of Wales is the track’s signature race and the middle leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. It will follow the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine Aug. 22, with the Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine, the anchor leg, in the fall.
The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed as a solid favorite over Life Is Good after three days of betting into Pool 2 of the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager. The pool opened Friday at noon Eastern and ran through 6 p.m. Sunday.
The field closed at 9-5, followed by Life Is Good (7-1), Essential Quality (8-1), Caddo River (13-1), Concert Tour (16-1), and Keepmeinmind (19-1). The lowest $2 exacta will-pay is Life Is Good over the field (24-5), worth $36.80.
The forecast of significant rain in Southern California on Thursday and Friday has jeopardized Friday’s program at Santa Anita.
Late Sunday morning entries for Friday were postponed to Tuesday morning to allow officials additional time to assess expected conditions later in the week.
“We will probably make a decision Tuesday morning,” racing secretary Chris Merz said.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Knicks Go passed a couple of big tests with his decisive victory in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Saturday afternoon at Gulfstream Park by proving he can stay nine furlongs against the very best competition - and by doing so over a racetrack he’d never run on before.
He also passed another important test early that same evening, as trainer Brad Cox explained Sunday.
Letruska and Lady Apple were among seven fillies and mares entered Sunday for the Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston Race Park.
The 1 1/16-mile race will be run Jan. 31. It is the richest offering of the meet and will be supported by five other stakes, including the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup, which drew 12.
Letruska won the Grade 3 Rampart at Gulfstream Park in her last start Dec. 12. Lady Apple is looking for her second straight win in the Houston Ladies Classic.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The Great One may turn out to be that good after a 14-length win in a maiden special weight race for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on Saturday.
In his first start since a surprise second by a nose at 33-1 in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 19, The Great One cruised to an easy win in a one-mile race Saturday, in a performance that may lead to an appearance in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stake at Santa Anita on March 6.
“I love the timing of that,” trainer Doug O’Neill said Sunday. “I think it’s a strong possibility.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux is expected to be sidelined until mid-February after sustaining a fractured rib in a one-horse spill at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Desormeaux was released from a local hospital Saturday evening, according to his agent, J.R. Pegram.
“He’s going to be out three to four weeks,” Pegram said Sunday morning. “That’s all I know at this time. He’s at home and he’s resting comfortably. It’s a slow-healing process.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Caddo River emerged from his dominant win in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park in good order and could see action next in the track’s Rebel Stakes, trainer Brad Cox said Sunday.
The Grade 2, $1 million Rebel will be run March 13.
Caddo River was a 10 1/4-length winner of the Smarty Jones on Friday, earning 10 points for the Kentucky Derby. He was given a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 92, which eclipsed his previous best number of 83 earned for a maiden special weight win in November at Churchill Downs
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission on Thursday voted to approve Prairie Meadows’s request for an 84-day 2021 race meet.
The season commences April 30 with 26 days of Thoroughbred racing followed by a 58-day mixed Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred session from June 15-Sept. 25.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - There will be a carryover of $114,873 in Saturday’s late pick five at Aqueduct.
The carryover was triggered when longshot My Amanjena ($34.60) upset Friday’s final race in the sequence. Other winners in Friday’s late pick five were Buyer’s Remorse ($9.90), Mr Phil ($27.20), Imperio D ($5.60), and Poncho Song ($24.20).
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