COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Trainer Pete Condellone suffered a stroke Sept. 3 and remains in Oliver Anderson Hospital in nearby Maryville Ill. Condellone, 93, has reportedly lost the use of his left arm and leg.
Condellone has been a fixture at Fairmount for decades. He co-founded the local chapter of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, along with Joe Podesta. Newly elected HBPA president Lanny Brooks has visited Condellone, whom he reports has made recent progress.
COLUMBUS, Neb. - Riders Alex Granda and Newil Wall avoided serious injury in a spill on the first of three turns in Sunday's ninth and final race.
Oberlin Yankee, with Granda riding, appeared to clip the heels of a rival in front of him and fell, throwing Granda to the ground. Done Dreaming, with Wall aboard, could not avoid the fallen horse and rider and also went down. Both horses got up and ran off but the riders remained down.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Keeping the Gold and Halory Leigh lead a solid field of 10 3-year-old fillies in Friday's $75,000 Prairie Meadows Oaks.
Keeping the Gold, a daughter of Langfuhr who is trained by Chris Block, had a four-race winning streak snapped in her most recent start when she finished second, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, after a wide trip in the Grade 3 Singapore Plate at Arlington Park on Aug. 9.
MIAMI - Silver Wagon, upset winner of the Hopeful Stakes and the No. 1-rated male 2-year-old in the country in Daily Racing Form's Watchmaker Watch, has returned to training at his home base at Calder. And while his connections have yet to confirm Silver Wagon's next start, trainer Ralph Ziadie said Wednesday that Belmont's Grade 1 Champagne Stakes on Oct. 4 remains under serious consideration.
AB What a Runner is undefeated, a champion, a millionaire, and a world record holder, yet the 3-year-old filly will be making just her second stakes appearance in the Grade 1, $100,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap at 400 yards on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.
Apollos Ten Bears tries for his third stakes win of the year when he heads the Grade 3, $61,900 Altoona Derby on Friday night at Prairie Meadows.
On Saturday night, fastest-qualifier None as Easy is after her second stakes win in the Grade 2, $143,850 Valley Junction Futurity.
Three 3-year-olds were made late nominees to the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby: Soto, the undefeated West Virginia Derby winner; Grand Hombre, the undefeated Pennsylvania Derby winner who was recently purchased by Darley Stud; and Traffic Chief, who has won four of five career starts. In all, 12 horses remain eligible for the Sept. 20 race at Louisiana Downs, including Dynever, Eye of the Tiger, and Travers winner Ten Most Wanted.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Soaring Free will be looking to become the second Atto Mile winner for Mark Frostad and Sam-Son Farm on Sunday.
On form there is little resemblance between Soaring Free and his successful predecessor, Quiet Resolve, besides the fact they both will have contested the Atto Mile as 4-year-old geldings. Quiet Resolve actually finished second in the 1999 Atto Mile, beaten a head, but was declared the winner when Hawksley Hill was disqualified.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Mike Iammarino continued his stakes-winning ways in the $35,000 R.J. Speers last Saturday on a pick-up mount that could end up as Manitoba's horse of the year.
Iammarino, a former three-time leading rider in Alberta, guided Northern Affair to a two-length victory over Deputy Country in the 1 1/16-mile Speers. The race was Northern Affair's first try against older horses