OLDSMAR, Fla. - Some racetracks rely heavily on alternative sources of income, such as slot machines, while others are struggling just to stay in business.
So can a racetrack in this day and age not only survive, but prosper with racing as its primary attraction?
The answer here is a resounding yes.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rock Hard Ten was scratched from Saturday's Derby Trial in order to point for next Saturday's Kentucky Derby, trainer Jason Orman said Saturday morning.
The decision was made in consultation with owners Ernie Moody and Madeleine Paulson after it became apparent that enough horses above Rock Hard Ten on the graded stakes earnings list may defect from the Derby in order to let Rock Hard Ten run.
"We want to run in the Kentucky Derby, and going straight into the race gives him his best chance," Orman said. "This is what's best for the horse."
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Much was expected after Epicentre won his United States debut one year ago at Keeneland, but, according to trainer Bobby Frankel, he was never quite right the rest of the year. He was good enough to cross the wire first in the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup, but in a decision apropos of his frustrating 2003 season, he was disqualified.
Epicentre returned to Keeneland for Friday's closing-day card for the $150,000 Elkhorn Stakes. After 12 months of ups and downs, Frankel thought Epicentre was ready for a top effort.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Nobody, not even trainer Frank Brothers, can say for sure whether Madcap Escapade will remain unbeaten through Friday, when she goes 1 1/8 miles against North America's best 3-year-old fillies in the 130th Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
But after Madcap Escapade drilled five furlongs in 58.20 seconds over a sloppy Churchill early Friday morning, Brothers was sure of at least one thing.
"She's a runner," he said. "That doesn't make her win the Oaks, I know. But she sure is one nice filly. That was an excellent work."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After winning the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park in February, Miss Coronado was just one more outstanding race from becoming one of the top contenders for the Kentucky Oaks.
But that race never came. Miss Coronado finished a dull eighth in her only subsequent try, the April 9 Fantasy Stakes, leading trainer Bobby Frankel to pull her from Oaks consideration.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The 11 3-year-olds in Sunday's $150,000 Times Square, a division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Aqueduct, are New York-breds in every sense of the word.
Each of the Times Square runners were born in New York and sired by New York stallions - unlike Kentucky Derby contenders Friends Lake and Read the Footnotes, New York-breds sired by Kentucky stallions.
, a son of Incurable Optimist, are clearly a cut above their Times Square rivals.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Dimitrova was an Irish raider last year when she won the American Oaks at Hollywood and the Flower Bowl Handicap at Belmont.
But for the last six months she has been based in California, preparing for a 4-year-old campaign that starts in Sunday's $100,000 Wilshire Handicap at Hollywood Park.
The Wilshire is her first start for trainer Neil Drysdale. She was previously trained by Dermot Weld, and was transferred to Drysdale following a 12th-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita last October.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Jockey Patrick Valenzuela has five mounts at Hollywood Park on Sunday, his first rides since receiving a stay from the California Horse Racing Board that allows him to ride while appealing the recent termination of his conditional license.
Valenzuela is booked to ride Butte City in the second race, Haleakala Sunrise in the third, Ms Mintons Excess in the fourth, Makeup Artist in the Wilshire Handicap, and Defcon Five in the ninth.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - There is often unrestrained joy in the winner's circle, but that wasn't the case Wednesday at Bay Meadows.
There were smiles and congratulations when 26-year-old Genaro Vallejo greeted Givemethreedimes, the first horse he had saddled as a trainer, after he returned to the winner's circle following a three-length victory in a $20,000 claimer.
But, as owner Bob Gilley said, "It was a little different."
Vallejo's first training victory came four days after the death of his mentor, John Terry Marshall, a man Vallejo had worked with for six years.
Known Back Home, the colt with the least experience in Sunday's $75,000 Star de Naskra Stakes at Pimlico, could also be the one to catch.
An impressive wire-to-wire winner in his career debut last month at Laurel Park, Known Back Home makes the rare class move from maidens to stakes and faces five other 3-year-old Maryland-breds in the six-furlong Star de Naskra.
