HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - It would have been exciting. It would have been a gallant undertaking.
Heck, it was fun just thinking about it.
But after a day or two of further consideration, * will not be going to Dubai for the $2 million United Arab Emirates Derby on March 23.
"The risk was too much," said Ken McPeek, who trains Repent, currently the consensus favorite for the May 4 Kentucky Derby.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Days after the race, Nick Zito remains incredulous.
"He won," said Zito. "I mean, he won!"
Yet the photo-finish computer will forever say otherwise. The official print shows that Mountain Forum defeated the Zito-trained High Star by about an inch in the ninth race at Gulfstream on Saturday.
Zito isn't the only one who finds the results hard to believe. A vast majority of observers at the racetrack thought High Star was up in the last two jumps to win the first-level allowance by a narrow but clear margin.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Searcher, one of the leading 3-year-olds in California, sustained a fractured right leg in a Santa Anita workout Wednesday morning and is off the Triple Crown trail. Searcher, a colt by Marquetry whose impressive two-turn maiden win in his second start Feb. 9 hinted at Derby potential, broke down at 8 a.m., three furlongs into a scheduled five-furlong workout under Mike Smith.
Kris Prather won her first race at Mountaineer Park on Monday when she guided Wildalot ($8.60), trained by Mike Pappada, from off the pace, against the grain of a speed-favoring track. Prather, who moved her tack to the West Virginia oval after a brief stay at Oaklawn Park, will retain her apprentice status until June.
* Deshawn Parker rode seven winners during the week to move into second place in the jockey standings at the winter meet with 23. Dana Whitney holds a comfortable lead with 38.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Proposals for casino gambling in Nebraska are up for debate in the Nebraska Legislature this week but appear to be facing an uphill battle. A pre-session poll of legislators conducted by The Omaha World-Herald found 33 of 45 lawmakers opposed to an expansion of gambling in the state.
At least three constitutional amendments are currently under consideration. They would allow for casinos on Indian lands located within a two-mile zone of neighboring states that allow casino gambling and for casinos at the state's racetracks.
TORONTO, Ontario - The Manitoba Derby, a Grade 3 race worth $100,000, once again anchors a 34-race stakes schedule offering a total of $1.15 million at Winnipeg's Assiniboia Downs.
The 75-day meeting, which will begin May 5, will feature overall purse increases of approximately $750,000 to $5.4 million. The increases were helped by the success of last year's live meeting, which had an 8 percent increase in handle and a 4 percent increase in attendance.
VINTON, La. - The opening of the slots parlor at Delta Downs last week was an overwhelming success, and the enthusiasm carried over into the weekend.
While no official turnstile count was kept, the facility attracted an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 on its first day of operation, Feb. 13.
"By far, it exceeded our expectations," said Rob Stillwell, a spokesman for Boyd Gaming, the owner of Delta Downs. "We really did not expect as many people as we had, as it was the middle of the week and following Mardi Gras."
Mystery Giver, who won the $150,000 Fair Grounds Breeders' Cup on Feb. 2, will be highweighted at 118 pounds Saturday night in what may be the deepest field of horses ever assembled for the $200,000 Connally Breeders' Cup Turf at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston.
The 1 1/8-mile race has drawn a full field of 12, and a case can be built for almost every horse in the race, which is one of three turf stakes on the card. Also on the program is the $50,000 Sam Houston Turf Sprint, and the $50,000 Jersey Lilly.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Derby fever will be in the air Friday at Santa Anita, where five Triple Crown nominated colts race 1 1/16 miles in the seventh-race feature. At stake is a $54,000 purse and a berth on the Kentucky Derby trail. If the race unfolds without incident, finding the winner is a simple matter of identifying the pacesetter.
Although Raven Power is widely considered a sprinter, he will be loose on the lead against a field that either will not, or cannot, challenge him early.