MIAMI - Ivanavinalot, after a couple of frustrating, unlucky road trips, will remain home for her next start, which is expected to come in the $100,000 Office Queen Stakes on June 14. The Office Queen is carded at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-old fillies.
Ivanavinalot has been soundly defeated in her last two starts, the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico on May 16 and the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland in April.
ALTOONA, Iowa - What a difference a year has made for trainer Paul Pearson.
In the summer of 2002 Pearson struggled with a barn filled with sick horses as well as with his own personal problems. This year, Pearson, who is the private trainer for Jim and Sandra Rasmussen's River Ridge Ranch, has saddled 11 winners, including Take Me Up, who won the John Wayne Stakes here at Prairie Meadows on May 17.
Although the filly Devon Rose is only 4 years old, her career has already taken a number of unexpected turns and twists.
After the first six starts of her career produced only a win in a maiden claiming race, Devon Rose was tried on turf. She flourished on the new surface, crushing a field of allowance horses at Delaware Park while earning a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. Trainer Allen Iwinski was so impressed he shipped her to Southern California for last July's $500,000 American Oaks.
MUSKEGON, Mich. - An exercise rider was killed Friday morning in a training mishap at Great Lakes Downs. Victor M. Sanchez, 25, was pronounced dead of head injuries soon after his arrival at Mercy General Health Partners in Muskegon.
The accident occurred just before the 8 a.m. maintenance break at the track. Witness reports vary, but all agreed that Sanchez's mount, Starcheck Billy, reared and fell over, slamming Sanchez against the outer rail and wall.
The Louisiana House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday night that would allow New Orleans voters to determine if Fair Grounds racetrack can operate slot machines.
The bill, which still needs the approval of Gov. Mike Foster, would give Fair Grounds the right to operate 700 slot machines if voters approve the plan later this year. No date has been scheduled yet for the referendum.
Indiana Downs in Shelbyville, Ind., handled an average of $295,083 per day on its live races during its inaugural 30-day Thoroughbred meet, which concluded on May 26. Of the $8.8 million bet on Indiana Downs's races, $1.8 million was wagered ontrack, an average of $61,540 per day, and $7 million was bet offtrack, an average of $233,543 per program.
"Handle for the meet was admittedly a little softer than we had hoped," said general manager John Schuster.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher nominated two promising 3-year-olds, Bishop Court Hill and Strong Hope, to Saturday's $200,000 Riva Ridge Breeders' Cup on the Belmont Stakes undercard, but probably will run only one of the colts.
Pletcher has tabbed Bishop Court Hill for the Grade 2 Riva Ridge at seven furlongs and is leaning toward running Strong Hope in a second-level allowance race at one mile the same day, so he can keep the horses, who are both owned by Eugene and Laura Melnyk, separated.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Twelve stakes will be run in a four-day span this week at Belmont Park, but before the stakes action gets underway Thursday, an allowance race that has a stakes-caliber field serves as Sunday's feature.
The money allowance race, carded for 1 1/16 miles on the main track, drew eight older male runners.
The field includes stakes winners Gander, El Gran Papa, Ground Storm, Sherpa Guide, and John Little. Abreeze, 3 for 5 at Belmont, and American Style, the runner-up to Mineshaft in the Grade 3 Ben Ali, add depth to the race.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Reba's Gold returned from a six-month break and scored a convincing win in the Grade 3 Seabiscuit Handicap at Bay Meadows last Monday. His vacation may have ended at a perfect time.
The prospective field for the $400,000 Californian Stakes here June 14 does not appear strong, and owner Alex Trebek and trainer Dan Hendricks may consider that race for the 6-year-old Reba's Gold, who won the Seabiscuit by eight lengths.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Katdogawn and Little Malvern give trainer Jim Cassidy a formidable entry in Sunday's $75,000 Manhattan Beach Stakes at Hollywood Park.
The pair is ideally suited as an entry for the turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies over 5 1/2 furlongs. Little Malvern is expected to show speed, while Katdogawn, a closer, has won over the course and at the distance at this meeting. Katdogawn was stakes placed on turf earlier in the year at Santa Anita.
The entry will be favored in the Manhattan Beach, which drew 10 entrants.