Leading rider Ramsey Zimmerman is scheduled to begin accepting mounts starting with Friday's card at Hoosier Park after being away from the track since a spill on Oct. 24. Zimmerman was named on four mounts on Friday's overnight.
Zimmerman was injured when finishing third aboard Formal Diplomacy for his main client, leading trainer Ralph Martinez. Formal Diplomacy was caught in tight quarters just after crossing the wire and appeared to clip the heels of two rivals.
It is often said the backside of a racetrack is like a soap opera.
In an episode illustrating that point, two members of Beulah Park's backstretch community are set to have their differences resolved on television soon.
Owner-trainer Tim Maxey and jockey Shelly Moran, who broke off their engagement over the summer, recently taped an episode on "Judge Joe Brown." Maxey and Moran appeared in front of Brown regarding several issues, including whether Moran had to return the engagement ring to Maxey.
They could not make a dent in Happy Ticket at Louisiana Downs, where she launched her career in early June and won five straight races, barely taking a deep breath. Happy Ticket had an easy three-furlong blowout Wednesday at Fair Grounds, and as long as the filly ate up her supper Wednesday night, the Happy Ticket show is traveling to Delta Downs on Friday for the $75,000 Magnolia Stakes.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Clouds of Gold, who seems to have taken her game to a new high recently, will be looking for her first stakes victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Maple Leaf at Woodbine.
The prospective field for the $175,000 Maple Leaf, a 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares, is headed by Raylene and One for Rose, the one-two finishers in the 1 1/8-mile allowance prep here Oct. 24.
Clouds of Gold, owned by The Valiant Stable and her trainer, Ken Parsley, was third that day, beaten by 1 3/4 lengths.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It's hard to believe that it has been 10 years since Greenwood, that cozy little Toronto bullring overlooking Lake Ontario, was closed by the Ontario Jockey Club.
For many, the six-week Greenwood fall meeting was a welcome change from six straight months at Woodbine. You could take a streetcar from downtown Toronto to the East End oval, where the fans had a close-up view of the horses. Having a table in its dining room provided a wonderful night out, and even the food in the track kitchen was excellent.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - didn't draw into the oversubscribed Ticonderoga Handicap at Belmont Park last month on New York Showcase Day, because she was among the low weights in the field. Seeing how well The Lamp Is Lit ran five days later in a second-level allowance race against open company at The Meadowlands, her connections had to be disappointed she was excluded from the Ticonderoga.
The Lamp Is Lit's 2 1/4-length win at The Meadowlands on Oct. 28 places her among the favorites in Thursday's $60,000-added Soaring Softly at Aqueduct.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Being excluded from an oversubscribed race is typically a stroke of bad luck. Weather permitting, it may turn out to be a blessing for .
After being left on the also-eligible list for a turf race on Wednesday, Capo has found an easier spot in Thursday's ninth-race feature at Churchill Downs, a $54,900 allowance going 1 1/16 miles on turf.
Although both races are similar two-other-than allowances, the Thursday race is the weaker of the two. Of its 10 entrants, four have raced for a claiming price of $25,000 in recent months.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The uncoupled Mark Casse-trained duo of Goldini and New Topper are both logical contenders in Thursday's Woodbine headliner, a mile-and-70-yard allowance for 2-year-olds.
Goldini made his first three starts in Florida under the guidance of trainer Bill White. He overcame a troubled break to finish second when he made his debut in a three-furlong maiden dash April 1 at Gulfstream.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A creepy-looking eyeball is not why speedball rarely has company up front.
The reason you can look her in the eye - her right one is cloudy but doesn't affect her sight - for only so long is because she usually is racing her first quarter in 21 and change.
"She's gutty, and she's got the kind of speed where she can outsprint a good sprinter," said trainer Doug O'Neill.
That is not all. After winning four of her last six, it is clear that Iflookscouldkill has an added dimension.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rafael Bejarano, the national wins leader and one of 15 jockeys banished by Churchill Downs management, is leaving the Kentucky circuit to ride in New York, possibly on a permanent basis, according to both his former and current agent.