ELMONT, N.Y. - So far, so good for business at the Belmont spring/summer meet.
Wednesday began the second half of the 60-day stand and also marked the 18th consecutive day that all-sources handle was up when compared to last year. Sparked by a record-setting Belmont Stakes Day, all-sources handle through the first 30 days of the meet is up $46.6 million, or 12.3 percent, compared to last year.
Total all-sources handle on Belmont Day was $114,887,594, a Belmont Park record.
ELMONT, N.Y. - When horsemen saw the conditions of Friday's classified allowance race, many figured it was written for Ghostzapper, who has not been out since taking last September's Grade 1 Vosburgh Handicap.
But trainer Bobby Frankel is planning to train Ghostzapper up to the Grade 2 Tom Fool Handicap on July 4, which leaves a modest field of five for Friday's $53,000 allowance test.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - There often is little to gain by running an inexperienced horse over his head, yet two weekend stakes at Hollywood Park will include second-time starters whose connections have chosen the path of most resistance.
Impressive debut winner Vencer will forsake a first-condition allowance and jump directly into a Grade 3 on Saturday in the Affirmed Handicap. The promising 2-year-old maiden Gentleman Count, who finished third in his debut, will try stakes company Sunday in the $75,000 Haggin Stakes for 2-year-olds.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The winners are supposed to be easier to find in small fields. But when half the card includes fields with six starters or fewer - like Friday night at Hollywood Park - the risk typically outweighs the potential rewards. Friday-night bettors can count on low payoffs on the winners.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Preachinatthebar, whose star has fallen amid the 3-year-old ranks since the colt became a classics candidate by winning the San Felipe Stakes in March, went through his second workout since undergoing a myectomy, breezing five furlongs Wednesday in 1:02.40 at Churchill Downs.
Trainer Bob Baffert, speaking from California, said he is hopeful the myectomy will help Preachinatthebar reverse his poor recent form. Owned by Mike Pegram, Preachinatthebar likely will make his next start in the July 2 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When he was riding to easily the richest victory of his career, aboard Colonial Colony last Saturday in the $810,750 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, Rafael Bejarano confirmed what many local horsemen already firmly believed about the young jockey.
"Horses really seem to run for him," said trainer Greg Foley, who would know better than almost anyone. "He's got plenty of talent, and he's a great kid, too."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Who will blink first?
That's the big question heading into Saturday's Grade 3, $125,000 Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Hombre Rapido and Giovannetti have only one way to go. They both want and need the lead.
"This horse is probably the fastest going on the West Coast. He can go 43 [seconds] and change," Hombre Rapdio's trainer John Sadler said. "When he's right, he's very, very fast, and we have him in good shape.
"If he has the lead, he'll keep going. I believe he's the fastest horse in the race."
Fair Grounds Race Course will file an amended bankruptcy plan on June 23, and an auction of the track in bankruptcy court has tentatively been scheduled for Aug. 16, according to Douglas Draper, a bankruptcy attorney for Fair Grounds.
Under the new plan, Fair Grounds will go into bankruptcy court with a so-called stalking horse, a party with a known bid to acquire the track. Draper confirmed the existence of a stalking horse on Wednesday but declined to identify the party.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Winners of all three Triple Crown races will be represented in Saturday's $500,000 for only the second time in the race's 64 runnings. Last year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, Funny Cide, will be joined by the 2002 Belmont Stakes winner, Sarava, in the nine-horse field, which was drawn at Suffolk Downs on Wednesday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Cricket Wicket goes for her second straight allowance score in Friday's Woodbine headliner, a six-furlong grass race for fillies and mares.
Cricket Wicket toiled on the main track last spring, before trainer David Bell put her on the turf in a six-furlong maiden special in July. She won for fun that day, and subsequently finished fifth in the seven-furlong Passing Mood Stakes.