Tue, 12/16/2003 - 00:00

Injured Krone to miss ride on Victory U. S. A.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Julie Krone has possible fractures of ribs and her sternum, and has severe soft tissue damage, her orthopedic surgeon said on Tuesday. The injuries will prevent Krone from riding this weekend at Hollywood Park, and jeopardizes her status for the Dec. 26 opening day of Santa Anita's winter meeting.

Krone, 40, was injured in an accident on Friday at Hollywood Park. The Hall of Fame rider visited on Tuesday with Dr. Tom Harris, a Del Mar, Calif.-based orthopedic surgeon who evaluated X-rays and an MRI scan conducted Monday.

Tue, 12/16/2003 - 00:00

Future of 'Internet' still turf

NEW ORLEANS - Freefourinternet already ranked as one of the best grass horses stabled to Fair Grounds, but his talents evidently extend to the main track. Entered in a grass race last Sunday that was moved to dirt after heavy rain on Saturday, Freefourinternet made an impressive last-to-first run to win a high-end allowance race by a length.

Tue, 12/16/2003 - 00:00

Baze poised to make run at riding title

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - With Julie Krone out for the rest of the Hollywood Park meeting and Patrick Valenzuela having missed the past week, Tyler Baze has crept to within striking distance of the leading riders entering the final week of the fall meeting. He has a terrific chance to gain further ground on Thursday, especially with live mounts in a pair of second-level allowance races that highlight the midweek card.

Tue, 12/16/2003 - 00:00

'Lady' back where she runs best

NEW ORLEANS - Dynamic Lady was born in Kentucky and has spent much of her racetrack life in New York, but the place she really wants to be is New Orleans.

At Fair Grounds last season, Dynamic Lady's form reached heights not seen before or since, and after a lost summer, she has picked up the pace of her training since shipping here early in November. Thursday, in the featured ninth race, she returns to action, facing just six opponents in a third-level grass allowance. The race, contested at about 1 1/16 miles, also offers a $62,500 claiming option.

Tue, 12/16/2003 - 00:00

Ozzie Cat fits this group purr-fectly

Although Ozzie Cat is winless in 2003, he should appreciate some class relief in Thursday's $44,000 feature at Aqueduct. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Ozzie Cat has knocked heads with such 3-year-old stalwarts as Ten Most Wanted, Trust N Luck, and Cajun Beat this year, and he raced very wide when the beaten favorite in a Churchill Downs allowance last month.

Tue, 12/16/2003 - 00:00

Alive, racing, and a winner

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Brian Pitnick isn't ashamed of the tears that flowed down his cheeks in the Golden Gate Fields winner's circle Saturday.

Very few who know the story of Graceful Stepper would have had a dry eye after her victory in an $8,000 maiden race.

She wasn't supposed to win a six-furlong race in wire-to-wire fashion in a faster time than $25,000 winners ran three races earlier. She probably wasn't supposed to be at the racetrack at all after having broken a leg during training in 2002.

Mon, 12/15/2003 - 00:00

Riders brave rough weekend

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Illness or injury kept four jockeys out of action at Hollywood Park over the weekend, including leading rider Julie Krone, whose participation in the major 2-year-old stakes of the upcoming weekend is uncertain.

Krone, Ryan Fogelsonger, and David Nuesch were sidelined by injuries on Friday, while Patrick Valenzuela missed all of last week because of flu.

Mon, 12/15/2003 - 00:00

West Virginia takes big drop to statebreds

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After finishing a well-beaten third in the Grade 2 Remsen on Nov. 29, West Virginia finds a more likely spot to earn the second stakes win of his career in Wednesday's $75,000-added Damon Runyon at Aqueduct.

The Damon Runyon was scheduled for Sunday but was postponed that morning when track officials decided to cancel the program because of a snowstorm.

West Virginia will be favored among 10 New York-bred 2-year-olds entered in the 1 1/16-mile Damon Runyon.

West Virginia and Rb's Glitter are the only stakes winners in the field.

Mon, 12/15/2003 - 00:00

Allowance or turf stakes for 'Petionville'?

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Petionville Indeed, a stakes winner in Texas in July, will make her fifth consecutive start on a different turf course this week at Hollywood Park.

As of Sunday, owner Jeff Nielsen and trainer Marcel Polanco had not decided if she would start in an allowance race on Wednesday or Saturday's $150,000 Dahlia Handicap.

They were expected to reach a decision before scratch time on Tuesday for Wednesday's race.

Mon, 12/15/2003 - 00:00

In Count Fleet, Smarty Jones could punch ticket to Arkansas

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - John Servis saddled two stakes winners at Aqueduct last week, Stephan's Angel in the Mom's Command and Balmy in the Garland of Roses, and the trainer's work in New York isn't done yet. Servis plans on running Smarty Jones, a 2-year-old colt he is very high on, in the $75,000 Count Fleet Stakes on Jan. 3.