ARCADIA, Calif. - Tout Charmant, one of the top female turf runners of the last two years, was retired and sent to Kentucky on Monday to be bred, trainer Ron McAnally said.
Owned by Robert and Janice McNair's Stonerside Stable, Tout Charmant finished fourth in the Grade 2 Santa Ana Handicap last Saturday at Santa Anita in her final career start. She was beaten 4 3/4 lengths by Golden Apples. In January, she as a convincing two-length winner of the Grade 2 San Gorgonio Handicap.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - A pair of $45,000 second-level allowance races highlight Thursday's nine-race card at Aqueduct.
The seventh, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, drew eight runners.
The stakes-placed Montana Cat, making her initial start for a new trainer, Jimmy Jerkens, returns to the races for the first time since January 2001.
Montana Cat, a 4-year-old owned by Frank Stronach, jumped a condition to win a second-level allowance at Woodbine in November 2000. Her only other win, also at Woodbine, came in the maiden ranks in the summer of 2000.
ARCADIA, Calif. - After being scratched twice in early March, Calkins Road is ready to face winners for the first time in a $57,000 allowance race for California-breds at Santa Anita on Thursday.
The race has significant long-term ramifications for the colt. If Calkins Road, 3, runs well, he will be considered for the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-old California-breds at Hollywood Park on April 28.
The race has been a springtime goal for Calkins Road since he won his maiden on Feb. 7.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Security at Churchill Downs for the 128th Kentucky Oaks and Derby on May 3 and 4 will be tighter than for any previous runnings, because of measures that have been adopted across the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In a media conference at the track, Churchill officials unveiled sweeping changes in the procedures that will be implemented, including:
* Magnetic wand searches of all people entering the grandstand, clubhouse, and infield.
NEW ORLEANS - A decade of growth ended this season at Fair Grounds, where business was down from a year ago in an 89-day meet that concluded Monday. The decline followed nationwide industry trends, but also revealed problems specific to Fair Grounds, in particular increased competition from Delta Downs.
A female exercise rider working a horse at Pimlico Race Course on Tuesday morning was killed in an accident on the racetrack, Pimlico officials said Tuesday. The accident occurred approximately 4 1/2 furlongs from the finish line on the Pimlico training track, according to Mike Gathagan, Pimlico's director of broadcasting and communications.
Gathagan and other Pimlico officials would not provide any additional details about the fatality on Tuesday, including the rider's name, citing a pending report about the accident. Pimlico is not currently open for racing.
Beulah Park canceled its racing program Tuesday afternoon because of unsafe track conditions caused by freezing overnight rain in the central Ohio area that left trees and power lines in the area coated with a thick sheet of ice. Beulah has been forced to cancel two of its last seven scheduled racing days because of bad weather.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - At 9 years old, horses are supposed to start losing a few steps, or more, not get better with age. But the amazing Sir Bear is as good as ever, and his trainer, Ralph Ziadie, did not hesitate when asked which of his star's 64 races and 19 victories was his best.
"The last one," Ziadie said. "He's run a bunch of great races. His win in the Met Mile was outstanding. But that last race was unbelievable. It was just the way he kicked in through the stretch. At the eighth pole I still didn't think he would make it. But he got there."
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Beau's Town is training so sharply that he will go in the $50,000 Hot Springs Stakes Friday instead of waiting for the Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Handicap here April 11.
"I really wanted to run in the Count Fleet, but it seems like the best move for the horse right now is the Hot Springs," said Dave Hulkewicz, owner of Beau's Town, who has won four straight. "He's doing so good and he's feeling so good, I hate to wait a couple more weeks to run him. He wants to do more right now."
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Xtra Heat, third as the favorite in the $2 million Golden Shaheen in Dubai on Saturday, will spend three days in quarantine at Belmont Park later this week before heading home to Maryland for some rest and relaxation.
Xtra Heat, last year's champion 3-year-old filly, is scheduled to leave Dubai on Thursday for an 18-hour flight to New York. After the filly clears quarantine at Belmont, where her blood will be drawn to determine whether she has any infectious diseases, Xtra Heat will be vanned to Maryland on Monday.