HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Mike Gill juggernaut just keeps rolling. Boston Brat, owned by Gill and trained by Mark Shuman, set a Gulfstream record for five furlongs, winning the third race Friday in 56.35 seconds. Cornelio Velasquez was aboard Boston Brat, who returned $2.80.
The time bettered the record of 56.60, set in 1997 by Punch Line. "Cornelio said the horse wasn't tired, but he was," said Shuman. "He said it was everything he could do to keep the horse from going in 55."
Churchill Downs has announced that the dates of two stakes during the upcoming spring meet have been switched.
The Grade 3 Aristides Handicap, a sprint for older horses, will now be run on June 21, while the Grade 3 Locust Grove Handicap for older fillies and mares on the turf will be run on June 28.
When trainer Doris Hebert sold his interest in Bet Me Best when the gelding was 2 in 1998, Hebert thought he would never see him again. But four years later, the two have been reunited, and last Saturday night Hebert was at his side when Bet Me Best, now 7, went over the $500,000 mark in earnings by winning the $50,000 Cypress for statebreds at Delta Downs.
Bet Me Best was returned to the care of Hebert in July in order to take advantage of the statebred program in Louisiana. The move was made at the recommendation of the horse's longtime trainer, Elliott Walden.
Following two long journeys in quest of six-figure purses in Texas and Louisiana, Cherokee's Boy returns to Maryland for much easier pickings.
Third in both the $263,000 Great State Challenge Juvenile at Sam Houston and the $500,000 Delta Jackpot at Delta Downs, Cherokee's Boy returns to his element to face five Maryland-bred 3-year-olds in Sunday's $60,000 Goss Stryker Stakes at Laurel Park.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - There is no stakes race at Aqueduct on Sunday, but the $56,000 allowance feature easily could be mistaken for one.
Seven older males entered the classified allowance, including Resolve and My Man Ryan, sharp-looking winners at the current inner track meet.
For Resolve, the mile-and-70-yard race is a prep for the $200,000 General George, a seven-furlong race at Laurel Park on Feb. 17. For My Man Ryan, it is an easier spot than Saturday's $100,000 Aqueduct Handicap, where he also was entered.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Mike Luzzi is a wanted man.
"My clients are winning and when you win the phone rings," Luzzi said about 90 minutes before riding Quppy ($21.80) to victory in Thursday's third race at Aqueduct.
Luzzi would later guide Cats Fury ($10.20) to a front-running victory in the featured eighth race, giving him five winners the last two days and 24 for the meet. That puts him firmly in third place in the standings, trailing only Javier Castellano (39) and Richard Migliore (26).
NEW ORLEANS - It's not that Meteor Impact hasn't shown something sprinting. In fact, the last time he raced he won the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile at six furlongs. But Meteor Impact's connections have long seen him as a long-distance prospect, and on Saturday, in the $75,000 Crescent City Derby, Meteor Impact will test his talent around two turns for the first time.
Ask the Lord has changed his ways. Once a tough customer on turf, he seems to enjoy racing on dirt more as of late, and on Saturday night could pick up his first stakes win in the $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - The Alameda County Fair Board of Directors voted Tuesday "to proceed with the potential development of a turf course."
The decision could make Pleasanton the second northern California fair to install a turf course. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted earlier this month to provide funds to build one in Santa Rosa.
Pleasanton is open year-round for training, and Rick Pickering, the fair's manager, said the turf course would be as well.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Some of the heavier hats have not yet been tossed into the ring. Toccet, Trust N Luck, and Sky Mesa are tucked away quietly in their stalls. And there are probably a few other 3-year-olds who soon will have an impact on the Kentucky Derby trail but who have yet to be unveiled.
Yet generally speaking, the $100,000 Holy Bull Stakes should be a revealing first step on Gulfstream Park's road to the Derby. By numbers alone, the 13 who will run Saturday in the Grade 3 Holy Bull illustrate the wide-open status of south Florida's 3-year-old division.
