NEW ORLEANS - After winning races at a clip of nearly 37 percent during the Delaware Park meet, which lasted from April through November, what can trainer Mike Pino do for an encore?
Hints of the answer began appearing this week at Fair Grounds, where Pino reeled off three wins in two days. The streak stands in stark contrast to the meet Pino had here last season, when he struggled to win races with overmatched horses.
FLORENCE, Ky. - Team Valor Stables will have more than one colt pursuing Kentucky Derby prep races when those stakes begin in earnest next year. In addition to Tiger Hunt, the fourth-place finisher from the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Team Valor plans to test its unbeaten Shadowland in stakes races for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park.
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Defending champion Ciento is sure to be favored in the second running of the $125,000 Johnie L. Jamison Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs Sunday at Sunland Park. The race will pit Ciento, 5, against his peers, plus a group of 3-year-olds looking to make a name for themselves against older runners.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Thoroughbred bloodlines and horsemen will have a major influence on Sunday's $175,000 Marathon National for Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos.
The three horses who make up the heavily favored entry - Coolmore, Heros Call, and Oak Canyon - are by Kentucky-based Thoroughbred stallions and were bred by trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
Owned and trained by Lukas's ex-wife, Laura Pinelli, Coolmore is by Carson City, while Heros Call and Oak Canyon are by Grand Slam. They are out of Quarter Horse dams and are registered as Quarter Horses.
MIAMI - Conventional wisdom suggests that taking a short price on a good horse - even a Grade 1 winner - returning from a layoff is a very poor betting strategy when that horse has more important objectives down the road. Bettors may want to heed that advice when Hopeful winner Silver Wagon returns from a 15-week vacation in Saturday's $100,000 at Calder.
NEW YORK - The New York Racing Association, two former directors of its parimutuel department, and four mutuel clerks were indicted on Thursday by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York on a charge of conspiracy to commit tax fraud. In addition, NYRA was fined $3 million in a scandal that federal officials claim went on for approximately 20 years.
NEW ORLEANS - Horseplayers grown stale with short fields are in for a jolt Saturday at Fair Grounds, where 105 Louisiana-breds were entered Thursday in 10 stakes races, seven for Thoroughbreds, three for Quarter Horses.
Most races are filled with viable contenders, and compelling match-ups abound. Mr. Archibald and Spritely Walker, rising stars in the older horse division, face off in the $150,000 Classic, the day's crowning event, while the $100,000 Turf pits Mr. Sulu against the venerable Coach Rags, both previous winners of the race.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - What a difference a week makes.
The $100,000-added Queens County Handicap was scheduled for last Saturday, but was postponed by one week because of a snowstorm. The Grade 3 race was redrawn Thursday and has an entirely different look compared with a week ago.
Four of the original entries, Peekskill, Newfoundland, Last Intention, and Patriot's Song, were not
entered back in Saturday's race. Two new horses, most notably the 2001 Queens County winner, Evening Attire, and Seattle Fitz joined the field.
NEW YORK - The New York Racing Association will move forward with plans to install video lottery terminals, or slot machines, at Aqueduct, officials said Thursday after NYRA reached a deferred prosecution deal with the U.S. attorney's office.
"We're going to get that casino open," NYRA chairman Barry Schwartz said.
It is estimated that slot machines at Aqueduct could generate in excess of $400 million per year in revenue.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - When he won the California Cup Classic one year ago, Calkins Road appeared to be on his way to top of the California-bred rankings. Since then, however, he has finished in front of just five horses in three races. And things do not get any easier on Saturday, when he tries to rebound against a strong field of Cal-breds in the $95,000-added On Trust Handicap at Hollywood Park.
