ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Johnny Magic has taken nine cracks at the nonwinners-of-two-lifetime allowance category for Ontario-sired runners, and might finally clear that condition in Thursday's 1 1/16-mile feature at Woodbine.
Johnny Magic won his maiden around two turns in his final 2003 appearance for trainer Malcolm Pierce, but is winless in nine starts this year. He has hit the board five times at the meeting while earning $54,530.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Did the crowd of 2,778 at Aqueduct on Election Day see the next Smarty Jones? That question will have to wait until next year, but the comparisons between Smarty Jones, this year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, and Rockport Harbor, the 6 1/4-length winner of Tuesday's Nashua, are already being made.
The Ohio State Racing Commission approved a 2005 racing schedule on Tuesday that awards live race days according to the minimums required by law, an action the commission took after horsemen in the state failed to come to an agreement on an alternate schedule.
The schedule will affect only one Thoroughbred track in the state, Beulah Park, which will run nine fewer racing days in 2005 than in 2004. River Downs and Thistledown would continue to run the same number of days as in 2004. Harness tracks, however, will have their schedules substantially reduced.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - One important guide to handicapping races is to read the conditions of the race.
Thursday's Bay Meadows feature, like many races scheduled late in the year, requires handicappers to pay close attention to the fine print.
Sharp claimers stepping up in first-level allowance races often have an advantage over rivals who have been stuck in that condition for a number of races.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Brass Hat, winner of the Grade 2 Ohio and Indiana derbies this year, fractured his right front ankle while finishing ninth in last Friday's Lone Star Derby and will be out of training for at least six months, trainer William "Buff" Bradley said.
Two screws were inserted in his ankle on Saturday. One will be removed in three months, and a full recovery is expected, Bradley said.
CHICAGO - Tamweel checked in fourth Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, an admirable showing for a filly who has come a long way in a short time. But Tamweel will not be checking back into Chicago, where she spent most of the run-up to the Breeders' Cup.
Tamweel is cooling her heels this week at Lone Star Park, and when she leaves, she is headed to Fair Grounds, where she will winter with trainer Wayne Catalano. Tamweel appeared to have come out of the Distaff in fine physical condition, but her racing schedule has not been determined.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Hugo Dittfach and jockey Jill Scharfstein have been a potent team at Woodbine in recent weeks, winning stakes with both Millfleet and Norfolk Knight.
But the Dittfach-Scharfstein duo outdid themselves here Sunday as both Millfleet and Norfolk Knight, half-brothers owned and bred by Margaret Squires, took down the two biggest pots on the program.
Millfleet, a 3-year-old gelding, prevailed by a neck in the $146,750 Bunty Lawless, a one-mile turf race for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and upward.
Funeral services for Wendell Hilburn, a longtime jockey at Remington Park, will be held on Wednesday. Hillburn died on Monday in Oklahoma City. He was 40.
Hilburn ranked among the top 10 riders at Remington Park in its early years, and had returned to riding in the last year after being forced to the sidelines by injuries in the late 1990s. One of his most popular mounts was stakes winner Only Cash. This meet, Hilburn had won three races from 38 mounts at Remington.
Funeral services for Wendell Hilburn, a longtime jockey at Remington Park, will be held on Wednesday. Hillburn died on Monday in Oklahoma City. He was 40.
Hilburn ranked among the top 10 riders at Remington Park in its early years, and had returned to riding in the last year after being forced to the sidelines by injuries in the late 1990s. One of his most popular mounts was stakes winner Only Cash. This meet, Hilburn had won three races from 38 mounts at Remington.