SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - A few weeks ago Daryl Montoya seemed in a safe position to win another Sunland riding title. But since then Jorge Bourdieu has gotten hot.
With three days left in the meet going into Friday, Bourdieu had cut the lead to three wins, leap-frogging over Nena Matz. Montoya has taken 321 mounts to win 46 races, compared to Bourdieu's 188 mounts and 43 wins. Matz is in third with 36 wins.
CICERO, Ill. - Repent has traveled a twisted path to his two wins this season. In the stretch run of both the Risen Star Stakes and the Louisiana Derby, Repent swerved inside and out, failed to change leads, and generally raced in a way that caused many observers to downgrade his performances.
Now it is his road to the Kentucky Derby that has taken a rather strange turn.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - It won't take long for the Keeneland spring meet to begin producing news worthy of the racing world's attention. A pivotal matchup between two of North America's most highly regarded 3-year-old fillies, Take Charge Lady and Belterra, is expected to take place in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes here Saturday, just a day after the 16-day meet opens.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Neither Came Home nor Mayakovsky answered any questions Tuesday at Santa Anita, nor were they expected to. Revelations are scarce when horses breeze a half-mile under a hold.
Co-favorites for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, Came Home and worked in 48.20 seconds, breezing. Mayakovsky worked in 48.20, breezing. Identical times for top-class milers who will attempt the same thing Saturday - carry their speed a mile and an eighth.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Homeland's two-start U.S. career has been a disaster, but in the Grade 2 Arcadia Handicap on Sunday, there are reasons to believe this gray will show signs of life. The $150,000 Arcadia, at 1 1/8 miles on turf, will be the first time Homeland has had a fair chance.
Sam Houston Race Park closed out its 82-night Thoroughbred meet Saturday with small gains in average daily handle, attendance, and purses.
Handle on the track's live races averaged $2,131,700 a night, up 2 percent over last year, while attendance averaged 3,131 a card, up 3 percent. Purses at the meet averaged $111,614, a 10 percent increase over the same period a year ago.
Jockey John Jacinto won four races on closing night to capture the riding title over Glen Murphy, 67 wins to 64. The title was a career first for Jacinto, whose mounts this meet earned $554,088.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Tugger likely will find the competition in Thursday's sixth race at Aqueduct softer than what she has been encountering.
Tugger, a stakes winner for trainer Todd Pletcher and Anstu Stables, is one of five older fillies and mares entered in the one-mile money allowance. The race, which carries a $54,000 purse, could yield a starter or two for the $150,000 Bed o' Roses Breeders' Cup on April 20.
Tugger's chief rival is Border Fire, a winner of four her last six starts.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Thursday's opening night card at Lone Star Park should appeal to everyone, with the possible exception of those who struggle to be punctual. There are no warm-ups, no lesser undercard races to begin the night. Here they start big and start fast.
As in past meets, the featured $50,000 Premiere Stakes begins the meet as the evening's first race. But this year, the focus will not be entirely on the horses, but also on the riders, or perhaps more accurately - the rider.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The last time Tiger Trap and Whoopddoo raced, they weren't "right." There is reason to believe they will be on Thursday, when they return in the two best races on the Santa Anita card.
Tiger Trap was considered Epsom Derby material last spring, but those plans were scrapped when he was foiled in a two-other-than allowance. Tiger Trap returned for a fall campaign that also did not pan out, and trainer Neil Drysdale gave Tiger Trap a winter break. It ends Thursday at Santa Anita.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - This story seems like many in the racing industry, at least at first.
A teenage boy, desperately hoping to become a jockey, can't seem to get the opportunity. Jockey agents question his desire and how long he will stick in the game. So the young man has little choice but to be represented at one point by his father - a dentist - who helps his son get started and pursue his dream.
Twenty-eight years and five Eclipse Awards later, Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey and his father, Dr. James Bailey, can look back at those times and laugh.
