STOCKTON, Calif. - The San Joaquin County Fair set a handle record with $16.95 million wagered during the 10-day meet that ended June 22. The total includes $1.6 million in advance deposit wagering. The fair's previous record was $15.4 million in 2000.
Included in the final total was $2.29 million wagered ontrack, a 1 percent increase from 2002. Ontrack attendance also increased 1 percent with an average of 4,508 fans per day.
Field size was up for the 2003 meet, averaging 8.3 horses per race.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Frustrations over escalating workers' compensation insurance rates have led trainers to schedule a meeting for Tuesday on the Hollywood Park backstretch and for some to question whether a boycott of entries would attract attention of their plight from state government.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Colita and Go Rockin' Robin, whose connections briefly flirted with the idea of running in the Belmont Stakes before eventually passing on that race, both put in workouts Friday morning in preparation for next Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park.
Colita, who won a second-level allowance race here by 2 1/4 lengths on May 21, breezed six furlongs in 1:14.29 over a fast Belmont Park training track.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Owner John Franks and trainer Terri Pompay faced a difficult decision when Clearly a Queen fractured a sesamoid last summer.
They could have retired the mare, a winner of more than $500,000. Or they could gamble on a comeback for a 6-year-old season.
They opted to roll the dice, and the first opportunity for a payoff comes Sunday afternoon in the $50,000 Politely Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Clearly a Queen makes her first start since winning the Grade 3, $100,000 Eatontown Handicap last August at Monmouth.
MIAMI - For several of the more precocious of the locally based 2-year-olds, next Saturday's $100,000 Criterium Stakes at Calder will be their final opportunity to compete here for big money until the fall. The 5 1/2-furlong Criterium is the only event on the stakes schedule until the Foolish Pleasure on Sept. 20, other than the Stallion Series, which is restricted to the foals of registered Florida-based stallions who have been kept eligible through a series of payments over the past two years.
Native Heir has been cleaning up in turf sprints taken off the grass. Now he looks like an even stronger favorite against a group of dirt sprinters.
The 5-year-old Native Heir, coming off a pair of victories in which he earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, appears to tower over his six rivals in Sunday's $50,000, six-furlong W. Meredith Bailes Memorial Stakes at Colonial Downs.
LINCOLN, Neb. - Herb Riecken's coupled entry of High Dice and Buzz Bar headlines Sunday's $12,500 State Fair Board Handicap at a mile and 70 yards at State Fair Park.
Formerly run as the Executive Board Handicap, the Fair Board Handicap drew a field of seven that includes three past winners of the race. Buzz Bar won it in 1998, Doug's Shadow in 2000, and High Dice in 2001. The race did not fill in 1999 and 2002.
Sunday's Eight Thirty Stakes at Delaware Park carries a modest purse of $55,000. Judging by several of the top-shelf turf runners among the entries for the 1 1/8-mile race, it might easily pass for a graded stakes.
Among the 11 older horses in the surprisingly tough field are Dr. Brendler, a Grade 2 winner at Pimlico and most recently a close third in the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap; Political Attack, winner of the Grade 3 Canadian Turf Handicap at Gulfstream; and Rochester, who has been consistently picking up pieces of purses against graded competition.
Milligram seems like a filly with a future. A winner of her last two starts, she will try to extend her win streak Sunday in the featured eighth race at Lone Star Park.
The one-mile turf race, a $40,000 optional claimer for fillies and mares, is worth $27,000. There are eight in the field, including the Gerald Romero-trained entry of Full Time Dancer and Spring Rush.
Milligram seems to have figured out the racing game in recent months. She won her maiden by two lengths April 18, then came back and won an entry-level allowance by three lengths May 31.