INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The board of directors at Del Mar has voted to oppose the proposed relocation of the Fairplex Park racing dates to Santa Anita this September.
Last week, officials with Fairplex Park and Santa Anita reached an agreement to move the 17-day fair to Santa Anita from Sept. 13-29. The proposal is subject to approval by the California Horse Racing Board on Thursday.
Thirty years ago, while working as an assistant trainer to his father, Pat Kelly saddled Droll Role to victory in the 1972 Massachusetts Handicap.
While the roles have changed somewhat, the Kelly family hopes for the same result Saturday when it sends out Evening Attire in the 63rd running of the Mass Cap at Suffolk Downs. This time around, Pat Kelly is the trainer while his father, Tommy, a Hall of Fame trainer, is part-owner of Evening Attire along with Joe and Mary Grant of Quincy, Mass.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - It's not as flashy as the Massachusetts Handicap, but the $150,000 James B. Moseley Breeders' Cup Handicap is on its way to at least replacing the once-prestigious Suffolk Sprint as a sprint stakes that attracts runners from other tracks around the East Coast and Midwest.
Six runners will run in the six-furlong race named for the late Suffolk Downs chairman, who is credited with bringing racing back to Boston after Suffolk was closed in 1989.
CHICAGO - Fan Club's Mister stretched his distance limitations to the max when he won the Grade 2 American Derby at 1 3/16 miles last summer, but on Saturday at Hawthorne, he will be asked to win over a shorter distance than he ever has raced. With class and versatility on his side, Fan Club's Mister might be up to the task when he faces eight opponents in the $75,000 Glassy Dip, a five-furlong turf race.
Jockey Clinton Potts admitted he was worried when his mount, promising 3-year-old Calends, was unable to gallop back to the unsaddling area and nearly fell after his first career loss in last Saturday's Legal Light Stakes at Delaware Park.
"He pulled up in a little bit of distress, like he might have bled, or maybe the heat could have gotten to him to a little bit," Potts said.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Five-year-old Manofglory was one of the most accomplished five-furlong turf specialists at Monmouth last year, and in Saturday's $50,000 Wolf Hill Stakes for 3-year-olds and up he will be trying to show that a year hasn't slowed his sprinting step.
Trainer Rodney Reed will play a strong hand in Saturday's Grade 1, $453,578 Heritage Place Futurity at Remington Park, with four finalists, including two of the top three qualifiers.
Reed will saddle fastest qualifier Fast First Prize, third-fastest qualifier Jazzy Corona, eighth-fastest qualifier Shake Em Rita Ballou, and ninth-fastest qualifier Quick Coverage.
Fast First Prize looks like a filly peaking at an opportune time. She finished a close second in a maiden race on April 21, but came back with an impressive Heritage Place Futurity trial win on May 10.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Star sprinters Full Moon Madness and Echo Eddie can strike fear in the hearts of opposing trainers.
Both have earned more than $800,000. Full Moon Madness returned from a one-year layoff to win the $100,000 Valiant Pete Handicap at Santa Anita on April 18. Echo Eddie won the $100,000 Ken Maddy Sprint Handicap at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 23, then ran second, beaten only a head in the $2 million Golden Shaheen in Dubai on March 23.
All Out Springs, a winner of four straight, including two stakes, is the likely favorite in Saturday's $50,000 Green Carpet Stakes for Ohio-bred 3-year-olds at River Downs. As its name implies, the Green Carpet will be contested on the turf, at 1 1/16 miles.