Business at Turfway Park continued its slide at the three-month winter-spring meet, which ended April 4 at the Florence, Ky., track.
Average ontrack handle, at $417,389, and all-sources handle, $3,680,049, both were down 4 percent from corresponding dates last year, while ontrack attendance, 1,710 daily, was down 13 percent. Per-day purse payouts slipped 11 percent, to $157,810.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - The fourth race at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 9 had just been run and trainer James Bond was crestfallen. Harbor Star, a 3-year-old Bond was extremely high on, finished second in his career debut.
At the time, it mattered little that Bond had won the earlier division of the split maiden race with a horse named , who had run seven furlongs in 1:23, 1.50 seconds faster than the race Harbor Star had lost.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - John Kimmel twice got fortunate in Florida when looking for races in which to run Quiet Lake. Now back in New York, Kimmel appears to have found another soft spot for Quiet Lake, who heads a five-horse field entered in a third-level allowance race Friday at Aqueduct.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - The California Authority of Racing Fairs, the state's only live racing entity that is not yet aligned with an advance deposit wagering company, has begun talks with the three licensed carriers: Television Games Network, XpressBet, and Youbet.com, several officials said.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Val Royal, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile at Belmont Park last October, has been retired after the recurrence of a tendon injury, trainer Julio Canani on Wednesday.
Canani said the injury was detected following Val Royal's disappointing fifth-place finish in the $2 million Dubai Duty Free in the Middle East on March 23.
"He's got a new lesion on top of the old one," Canani said. "He came out of Dubai good and he was fine, but these things don't pop up right away. You have to scan him."
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Craig Dollase thinks he might have the California Derby winner in his barn - Tracemark, who will prove him right or wrong Saturday in the $150,000, 1 1/8-mile California Derby at Bay Meadows.
"He's a warrior," Dollase said.
Tracemark, who ran in the Grade 3 Hollywood Juvenile and the Grade 2 Norfolk Stakes last year while still a maiden, has long been highly regarded by owner Edward T. McGrath. He was nominated to the Triple Crown long before winning a maiden race at 1 1/16 miles March 3 at Santa Anita.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Vito Armata had a career meeting here at Woodbine in 2001, sending out 34 winners for purses of $1,450,733.
And the 52-year-old Armata certainly shows no signs of slowing down this season, with his five wins putting him in a tie for the lead and purses of $210,280 ranking him second in that category heading into the fourth week of the meeting.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jack Wolf, the owner of Harlan's Holiday, is a man with a sense of humor. When talking about his days as a tight end for the Murray State University football team, he gives a hearty laugh when asked whether that was during the era of leather helmets without face masks.
"Actually," said Wolf, 52, "I was the career leader in receptions for a few years there," having caught 105 passes in the years 1968-71.
But ask him whether he also led in receiving yards, he is quick with this quip: "After I caught the ball, I didn't get very far."
Trainer Kelly Ritchie is winning with everything he saddles at Mountaineer Park lately. And that's no exaggeration.
In a streak that dates back to March 30, when Comic Trick ($18.80) won a photo finish, Ritchie has gone 6 for 6. Five of his wins have come in the the first seven programs of the spring meet, putting him one ahead of perennial track leader Dale Baird.
Ritchie, 37, a native of Texas who vans his horses to the track on raceday from his farm in Ohio, has compiled a record of 14 for 34 for the year at Mountaineer, which computes to a 41 percent success rate.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Danceacide, a 4-year-old Oklahoma-bred filly, became an unusual high-priced claim in last Saturday's ninth race. Bred by her owner, William L. Hobbs, and trained by Kelly Von Hemel, Danceacide showed a win and a third in her two starts, both at Remington Park last fall.
Entered in a $20,000 claiming race Saturday against much more accomplished male rivals, Danceacide was sent off at 8-1, finished seventh, and was claimed by Ken Johnson for owner Robert Hewitt. The claim is the largest made on the Nebraska circuit in recent years.