AUBURN, Wash. - The initial dozen inductees into the Washington Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame - announced last Friday - have sparked debate and unleashed a flood of memories.
The same thing is likely to happen in succeeding years, when no more than three new candidates will be inducted in a single year, and that alone makes the project worthwhile. It's good to remember the past, and to honor those who made it memorable.
AUBURN, Wash. - If Not Why Not, a prolific winner who is on an uncharacteristic four-race losing streak, stretches out to a mile in Thursday's Emerald Downs feature, which drew eight older $10,000 claimers.
If Not Why Not, a winner of 11 of his 32 starts, won back-to-back sprints over $8,000 and $12,500 company in June, but has since been denied in two starts for $16,000 and two for $12,500, all sprints. Trainer and part-owner George Colello is making three significant changes on Thursday in an attempt to get the 7-year-old If Not Why Not back to the winner's circle.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Whoopi Cat and Whywhywhy, two of the better horses in trainer Patrick Biancone's barn, suffered injuries that will keep them out of this weekend's stakes races at Belmont Park.
Whoopi Cat, winner of the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes in her last start, suffered a bruised right front foot and will miss Sunday's Grade 1, $200,000 Matron for 2-year-old fillies. Biancone said he did not believe the injury would force Whoopi Cat to miss the rest of the year.
MIAMI - The mood was a bit more somber than usual during training hours here on Tuesday after word had spread that trainer Harold Rose had died the previous afternoon.
At 92, Rose was the elder statesman of the Calder backstretch and a fixture here since the track opened in 1971. He was also one of the most successful owner-breeders in the area, having campaigned such talented homebreds as My G.P., Rexson's Hope, Mia's Hope, and Hal's Hope.
But as his longtime friend and colleague Bill Kaplan explained, Rose was more than just a good horseman.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Jockeys Patrick Valenzuela and Omar Berrio both face possible disciplinary action from Del Mar's stewards following a fight in the jockeys' room after Monday's third race, in which a horse Valenzuela rode to victory was disqualified in a controversial decision.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Redattore lost his status as the top turf miler in California when he was last of six in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar on July 27.
Redattore's performance in the Eddie Read, won by Special Ring, made his stylish wins in the Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March and the Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile at Hollywood Park in May seem like a long time ago.
On Wednesday, Redattore returns in a weaker field, starting as the 124-pound topweight and heavy favorite in the $75,000 Live the Dream Handicap on the closing day of the Del Mar meeting.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Yankee Gentleman moved closer to a possible start in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita next month by scoring his first stakes win in last Saturday's restricted $77,700 Pirate's Bounty Handicap.
Yankee Gentleman had a perfect trip under Julie Krone, scoring by five lengths over Avanzado. The six-furlong time of 1:07.90 was the fastest clocking of the meeting at the distance. He was given a 117 Beyer Speed Figure.
ELMONT, N.Y. - It isn't surprising that trainer Bobby Barbara didn't sleep a wink on Sunday night.
Barbara, 50, had every right to be keyed up. The trainer, who saddled his first winner at Aqueduct in 1984, was coming off the biggest weekend of his career. On Sunday, Barbara won his first Grade 1 with Indy Five Hundred in the Garden City Breeders' Cup at Belmont Park. On Saturday, Buy the Sport was turned over to Barbara after winning the Grade 1 Gazelle.
ELMONT, N.Y. - A solid weekday card awaits fans on Wednesday, the start of the first full week of racing at Belmont Park's fall meet.
The featured eighth race, one of two strong grass races on the card, is a $65,000-added overnight stakes for filly and mare turf runners, the Via Borghese.
The Via Borghese, which will be run at 1 1/8 miles on the inner turf, drew nine horses, plus two main-track-only entries, Call an Audible and Golden Sonata.
