Lone Star Park near Dallas is scheduled to open for racing Friday. The track is working closely with the Texas Racing Commission to facilitate the start of live racing, which was postponed from its April 16 start date due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The racing will be conducted without fans in the grandstand.
In a world turned upside down, perhaps it is only fitting this year that the Triple Crown will be run out of order.
The Belmont Stakes, traditionally the last and longest leg of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, will be run June 20 and at the shortened distance of 1 1/8 miles around one turn, the New York Racing Association announced Tuesday. That means the Belmont – typically run at 1 1/2 miles five weeks after the Kentucky Derby – will be run 11 weeks before the Kentucky Derby (Sept. 5) and 15 weeks before the Preakness (Oct. 3).
The Grade 3 Indiana Derby, newly designated as a race earning points toward qualifying for the rescheduled Kentucky Derby, will be held July 8, a Wednesday, according to the track where the race is held.
Indiana Grand, which is hoping to reopen June 15, announced the date of the race Tuesday, along with the rest of the stakes races that the track is hoping to run during a rescheduled meet running through Nov. 18. The track also released its first condition book for the upcoming meet.
Jockey Mike Luzzi, a fixture in New York, plans to ride at the upcoming meet at Lone Star Park near Dallas.
Bradley White, who represents Luzzi’s son, Lane Luzzi, said Tuesday he also will be representing Mike Luzzi.
Lane Luzzi has been riding in the region for the past few years and also is on deck for the meet at Lone Star. Mike Luzzi had been planning a trip to town to check in on Lane.
“He wanted to come down and visit,” said White, “and I said, ‘Why don’t you bring your tack?’ He said, ‘That’s a good idea.' "
Charles Town Races in West Virginia has added a late pick five to its wagering menu that will have a 12 percent takeout, the track announced Tuesday.
The pick five will cover the last five races of the card, Charles Town said, and will have a 50-cent base increment. If no one picks all five winners, then 75 percent of the pool will carry over to the next card’s late pick five, with the remainder distributed to those that selected the most winners in the series.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario reported in a Monday press release that there are 20 confirmed cases of equine herpesvirus in Barn 12 at Woodbine. One horse was euthanized as a result of the neurological disease.
All 59 horses residing in Barn 12 have been tested, and the effected horses are either in isolation or have been sent to the Ontario Veterinary College for treatment. The horses who tested negative will be retested Tuesday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine Entertainment has announced that the prestigious Queen’s Plate, North America’s oldest annually run stakes, has been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, at Woodbine.
The $1 million event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was originally scheduled for June 27.
Love Wins, a California-bred filly by Haynesfield, won the first race for 2-year-olds in Southern California this year in Sunday’s second race.
Trained by Luis Mendez for CTR Stable, Love Wins won a maiden special weight race for fillies at 4 1/2 furlongs by 3 3/4 lengths, in 53.79 seconds. A slight favorite, Love Wins ($6.80) disputed the early pace and pulled clear to beat 8-1 Miz Lola La Dare in a field of six.
Love Wins was purchased for $23,000 at the Fasig-Tipton California fall yearling sale last September.
Bellafina was second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita last November, her best result in the second half of 2019. This year, the same race at Keeneland in November is a long-term goal, trainer Simon Callaghan said Sunday evening after Bellafina’s win in the Grade 3 Desert Stormer Stakes at Santa Anita.
Jockey Flavien Prat had a quick commute on his way to making Santa Anita history on Sunday.
Prat is staying in an RV in a track parking lot on race nights during the coronavirus outbreak, a short walk to the jockeys’ room. That path led Prat to a career-best day Sunday in which he won six times from nine mounts on a 10-race program.
“It was one of those days when everything worked out,” Prat said late Sunday afternoon. “It was really nice.”
