When the ballots are cast to determine the 2004 champion Quarter Horses next week, there will be fewer voters trying to distinguish between a larger number of horses on the ballot than in previous years.
The changes were proposed in June by a task force of horsemen, media members, and racing officials who met in Dallas, and in November, the proposal was approved by the American Quarter Horse Association's racing committee and racing council.
Evangeline Downs opened its new one-mile track for training Wednesday morning, and early reports suggest it might be a faster surface than the old seven-furlong site in Carencro, La.
Evangeline, which installed slot machines in December 2003, has moved its operations to Opelousas. It is the first racetrack and casino to be built from the ground up, according to officials with Evangeline.
Two turns is the next frontier for Cajun Pepper, who improved to 5 for 5 with his 4 1/4-length win in the Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland Park last Sunday. The race was the first stakes start against open company for Cajun Pepper, whose five wins have come by a combined 27 3/4 lengths.
"He's doing good. He came back 100 percent," said trainer Ramon O. Gonzalez.
When Russell Baze traveled to Phoenix to keep the mount on Lost in the Fog, an up-and-coming 2-year-old based in northern California, it should have clued people in.
Even if it did, though, no one could have expected what would transpire in Sunday's $50,000 Arizona Juvenile. All Lost in the Fog did was win by 15 lengths, geared down, and set a track record of 1:13.55 for the 6 1/2 furlongs, earning a 109 Beyer. That eclipsed the old mark of 1:13.80, set by Arizona-circuit legend G Malleah in 1994.
Six of the nine horses in the field for Friday's $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Championship at Pimlico come into the 1 1/16-mile stakes for Maryland-breds off a victory.
The number of last-out winners could just as easily have been seven if Monster Chaser had not fallen a neck short in the H.S. Mitchell last time out.
With little to separate so many horses by using either their most recent race or last Beyer Speed Figure, handicappers need to find some other method to narrow the number of contenders.
Wallop, a 4-year-old filly who has often been close but rarely a winner this season, picked a good time to end her bout of seconditis Tuesday night at Mountaineer Racetrack.
Facing eight other filly and mare sprinters, Wallop ($19.80) overtook pacesetter Glorious Again in deep stretch to earn a half-length victory in the $75,000 New Year's Eve Stakes. She covered six furlongs on a fast track in 1:10.53.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The first two days of the Santa Anita meeting on Sunday and Monday might have been a preview of a few of the Sunshine Millions races for California-breds and Florida-breds at Santa Anita on Jan. 29.
From She's a Jewel, the winner of the first race of the meeting on Sunday, to Alphabet Kisses, the winner of the Grade 1 late Monday afternoon, the thought of a start in the Sunshine Millions was on the minds of many participants - and even some that stayed in the barn.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Diligent Prospect scored a maiden win at Hollywood Park last May in the style of a future stakes winner. His connections are still waiting to find out if he will be that good.
was sidelined with sore shins through the summer and fall and returns from a seven-month layoff on Thursday in a $48,000 optional claimer for 2-year-olds over seven furlongs at Santa Anita.
What are the chances trainer Dick Small can sweep the three stakes at Pimlico this week?
Gauging from the track's morning line odds, Small has a big shot to accomplish the feat.
After winning last Sunday's Squan Song with the 3-year-old filly Perilous Night, Small has , the 4-5 early favorite for Thursday's Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship. The $100,000 stakes, restricted to Maryland-breds, was originally scheduled for one mile at Laurel Park, but has been shifted to 1 1/16 miles at Pimlico.
NEW ORLEANS - Multiple stakes winner Ambition Unbridled heads a tough field of 10 fillies and mares Thursday in a $38,000 allowance turf sprint at Fair Grounds, the Dr. A.B. Leggio Memorial Prep.
, trained by Gamaliel Vazquez for owner Michael Gill and ridden by Corey Lanerie, has been on a steady diet of turf and dirt sprint stakes this fall after a solid campaign at Saratoga.
