Tue, 01/20/2004 - 00:00

Jose Flores sidelined indefinitely

Jockey Jose Flores will be out of action indefinitely because of injuries sustained in a spill Monday at Philadelphia Park.

Flores, tied for second in the track's jockey standings with 9 wins from 56 mounts, has a punctured lung and several broken ribs. He is still being evaluated for what doctors described as two other lesser injuries, a slight fracture in the spinal area and a possible break in his collarbone.

* Tuesday's live racing at Philadelphia Park was canceled because the main track remained frozen.

Tue, 01/20/2004 - 00:00

Ema Bovary to stay home for Orinda Handicap

ALBANY, Calif. - Saturday's $60,000-added Orinda Handicap took on a new complexion when trainer Larry Ross said that he would enter Ema Bovary instead of running her in Sunday's Grade 1, $250,000 Santa Monica at Santa Anita.

When Island Fashion scratched from Sunday's El Encino at Santa Anita to join Got Koko and Sightseek in the Santa Monica, Ross decided to keep Ema Bovary home.

Tue, 01/20/2004 - 00:00

Sweet Return steals another one

Horsephotos
Yearly Report ($6.20) with Jerry Bailey riding wins the $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes by four lengths.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The jockeys who ride Sweet Return wear the white silks with red dots of John Brunetti's Red Oak Stable. They ought to add a bank robber's mask, too. For the second straight time, Sweet Return scored a gate-to-wire upset victory in a 1 1/4-mile grass race, this time in Monday's Grade 2, $150,000 San Marcos Handicap at Santa Anita.

Mon, 01/19/2004 - 00:00

Classic lures Peace Rules

ARCADIA, Calif. - Peace Rules, the winner of the Haskell Invitational and the third-place finisher in last year's Kentucky Derby, was one of 85 horses entered Monday for the eight Sunshine Millions races that will be run Saturday at Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park.

, who won the Malibu Stakes on Santa Anita's opening day, Dec. 26. Both Peace Rules and Southern Image were bred in Florida, but they are based in California.

Mon, 01/19/2004 - 00:00

A field filled with potential

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - One more like that last one, and Allen Jerkens may have to start thinking about bigger things for All Hail Stormy. A terrific maiden victory on opening day of the Gulfstream Park meet has All Hail Stormy as the likely favorite in the Wednesday feature, a $34,000 allowance sprint that figures to produce a starter or two for upcoming stakes for 3-year-olds.

Mon, 01/19/2004 - 00:00

Cesare tries to resist Derby fever

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Second of June earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure for his impressive victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, a performance that has moved him into the upper echelon of the 3-year-old division. But trainer Bill Cesare is not ready to begin making hotel reservations for Kentucky Derby week in Louisville just yet.

"There are still a lot of good horses out there we haven't met yet," Cesare said. "We'll run in the next two here and then see where we stand."

Mon, 01/19/2004 - 00:00

Rivera should return Thursday

ALBANY, Calif. - Jockey Jose Luis Rivera Jr. suffered chest bruises but no broken bones after a spill aboard Brave Solution in Sunday's sixth race at Golden Gate Fields.

Rivera was examined and released at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. He is expected to resume riding Thursday. Brave Solution, a 3-year-old colt, suffered fatal injuries and had to be euthanized.

Mon, 01/19/2004 - 00:00

Seattle Fitz has Florida in his sights

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - With limited and not very lucrative options available in the Northeast, Aqueduct Handicap winner Seattle Fitz is likely headed to south Florida, where he could make his next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

Seattle Fitz won his first graded stakes Saturday, when he held off a late charge from Evening Attire to take the Grade 3 Aqueduct Handicap by a nose. Seattle Fitz was coming off losses in graded events such as the Fayette, Clark, and Queens County handicaps.

Mon, 01/19/2004 - 00:00

NYRA numbers dip

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It was a tough year for the New York Racing Association in more ways than one.

In addition to being indicted and fined $3 million for fraud in 2003, the NYRA also suffered declines in attendance and handle for the year when compared with 2002. Daily average all-sources handle was off 1.8 percent from $11,148,698 to $10,953,180. Total all-sources handle was down 4.1 percent from $2,854,065,170 to $2,738,294,945.

Mon, 01/19/2004 - 00:00

Yearly Report wins Santa Ynez

Yearly Report and House of Fortune are both eligible to run in Saturday's Sunshine Millions, but their connections did not want to ship them across the country to Gulfstream Park.

Instead, the California-bred 3-year-old fillies remained at Santa Anita for Monday's Grade 3, $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes, in which they ran one-two, with Yearly Report winning by four lengths.