Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

'Shebelongs' looks sharp for stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Shebelongstoyou was no match for the likes of Balletto, Sis City, and Smuggler in her two previous starts in New York. But none of those fillies is entered in Friday's $50,000 Raging Fever Stakes, which may explain why trainer Kelly Breen is so confident about his 2-year-old filly in the mile-and-70-yard race over Aqueduct's inner track.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Rahy's Secret on right track

NEW ORLEANS - Rahy's Secret returns to his favorite surface, the Fair Grounds turf course, Friday in the $32,000 optional claiming allowance feature at 5 1/2 furlongs.

A 6-year-old son of Rahy, Rahy's Secret won the Black Gold Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass at Fair Grounds as a 3-year-old, in the same year that he finished third in the Risen Star Stakes. He has run in optional allowance and straight claiming races more recently, and has changed hands a couple of times. Trainer Eddie Johnston drops him in here for $40,000.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

A Bit O'Gold, Soaring Free vie for title

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Canada's Horse of the Year, along with 15 other divisional champions and the winners in four media categories, will be honored Friday night at the 30th annual Sovereign Awards gala.

An overflow crowd of about 350 is expected at the nearby Wyndham Bristol Place Hotel to honor this year's outstanding performers in Canadian Thoroughbred racing and breeding.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Beluga Star tries to turn tables in '04

PORTLAND, Ore. - Track-record holder Beluga Star and defending champion Snowbound Queen will square off in Friday's Candy Cane Handicap, a $5,000 stakes for older Quarter Horses at 870 yards.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

State raids NYRA tracks

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Officials from the New York State police and the state attorney general's office raided all three of the New York Racing Association tracks on Wednesday and removed several boxes of records pertaining to entries and weights carried by jockeys.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Grand Slam filled with options

Bill Straus
Humaita is the starting highweight in Saturday's La Prevoyante 'Cap.

MIAMI - Saturday's Grand Slam II figures to be a bettor's delight with each of the four stakes races on the card offering full and evenly matched fields that should test the skills of even the most accomplished handicappers.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Two phenoms show they've arrived

NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana Champions Day lived up to the expectations of an exciting day of racing last Saturday and created a pair of new stars in Happy Ticket and Crimson Stag. The principal players are slated to race again eight weeks later, on the next big card for Louisiana-breds, Premier Night at Delta Downs on Feb. 5.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Bourque's recovery on schedule

Evangeline Downs
My Parade, winning the Lafayette, is being considered for route stakes this winter at Fair Grounds or Oaklawn.

Jockey Steve Bourque, a seven-time title winner at Delta Downs, said he expects to resume riding at the Vinton, La., track next month. He is recovering from a fractured ankle sustained in a gate accident in November.

Bourque fractured his right ankle, as well as his shoulder and a facial bone, when one of his mounts flipped in the starting gate Nov. 13. He said his ankle cast will be removed Tuesday.

"I should be back up and around in January, the first or second week," said Bourque, 41.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Slow-starting closer has shot

CHICAGO - Peck around a little, and you can find kernels of interest even in the dead of winter at Hawthorne. Take the matchup in Friday's featured sixth race between one of the fastest Indiana-breds in training and one of the slowest gate horses in Chicago.

These two, Call Roy and Jack of My Heart, are among the nine horses entered in a second-level, six-furlong allowance, the highest-class race on Friday's 10-race Friday program, a twilight card not by design, but because darkness starts descending around 3 o'clock this time of year in the Windy City.

Wed, 12/15/2004 - 00:00

Md. horsemen air concerns

At a contentious meeting of the Maryland Racing Commission on Tuesday, horsemen restated their concerns over the long-delayed rebuilding of the racing surfaces at Laurel Park.

At the meeting, executives of the Maryland Jockey Club said the rebuilding of Laurel's dirt track was nearly complete and that Laurel would open for racing on Jan. 22, about a month later than an earlier scheduled reopening.

Lou Raffetto Jr., the MJC's chief operating officer, told commissioners that the latest estimate for resuming training on the renovated track is Dec. 26.