The Indiana Horse Racing Commission has given final approval for the 2004 race dates at Indiana Downs and Hoosier Park.
Indiana Downs, which will have its turf course in place for the 2004 racing season, will increase its Thoroughbred schedule from 30 dates in 2003 to 48 in 2004. The meet will run April 9 through June 20. Harness racing at the facility will begin July 1 and run through Oct. 30 for an 84-day schedule.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Although Galloping Gal ran very well to finish second in the Alcibiades Stakes, trainer Ken McPeek has seen enough of the elite of the 2-year-old filly division - at least for now.
"No Breeders' Cup," said McPeek, who trains Galloping Gal for Bill Carl. "There'll be plenty of time for that kind of stuff down the road."
LEXINGTON, Ky. - At least it won't be a walkover. Tenpins will be a heavy favorite Saturday at Keeneland when the Fayette Stakes helps bring down the curtain on the 17-day fall meet, but as many as six opponents, including the highly capable colt Quest, are set to oppose him in the Grade 3 race.
CHICAGO - On the far turn of Hawthorne's third race on Sept. 28, trainer Chris Block saw what he had hoped to see for the last year and a half. Ioya Forever ran in full flight, finding a seam along the inside as she hit the peak of a sustained rally. She burst to the lead at the top of the stretch, and went on to win a third-level allowance race by almost four lengths, zipping six furlongs in a strong 1:10.80.
"It was probably the best race of her life," Block said this week.
Although Sam Houston Race Park in Houston has made a number of changes to its meet, which starts Thursday, the most significant could be opening the week of the Breeders' Cup, which can set the tone for the track's 10th season. The meet runs 93 days, through April 10.
Sam Houston typically opens in November, but is running a longer meet this year, and for the first time in three years will open the week of the Breeders' Cup.
Jockey Jeremy Beasley has come home. After years of competing in the East and Midwest, Beasley has returned to Sam Houston Race Park, where he will be a leading candidate to win the riding title during the 93-date meet that opens Thursday.
Beasley was born in Houston, and as a teenager he went to work as a custodian in the Sam Houston paddock. The job afforded him the chance to talk to a number of jockeys, and after learning the ropes as an exercise rider, he launched his career.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Allen Jerkens, who is having a phenomenal year, could win stakes on both coasts on Saturday.
At Santa Anita, Jerkens will run Frizette winner Society Selection in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. At Belmont Park, the Hall of Fame trainer has the probable favorites in the Grade 2 First Flight Handicap and Grade 3 Sport Page Handicap.
Shine Again will try to win the $150,000 First Flight for the third year in a row, and Meadowlands Cup winner Bowman's Band will try to improve off his second-place finish in last year's $100,000 Sport Page.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Lost amid the excitement of the Canadian International and E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine on Sunday was another scintillating performance by Forever Grand, winner of the Grade 3 Highlander Handicap.
Owned by his trainer, Bob Tiller, in partnership with Frank DiGiulio, Forever Grand won his fourth stakes of the year, enhancing his credentials for a Sovereign Award as Canada's outstanding sprinter.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Leif Dickinson, the turf course superintendent at Santa Anita, has the weather service on speed dial these days.
The constant need for updates is not because of potential wet weather for Saturday's Breeders' Cup program. Dickinson is more concerned about the continued warm weather that has caused the turf course to become firmer and quicker than he wants in advance of an event that draws horses from throughout the United States and Europe.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Bonus Pay Day earned a break during the Del Mar meeting after he suffered a minor injury when he put a leg over the webbing in front of his stall.
The unfortunate incident was preceded by consecutive losses to major stakes winners Bluesthestandard, Joey Franco, Candy Ride, and Sky Jack - and a ninth-place finish in an allowance race on July 26.
All of that led to a vacation for Bonus Pay Day, who has won 9 of 40 starts and $391,371 for a partnership that includes Frank Alesia.