ARCADIA, Calif. - Angel Angelique will hover at even money Thursday in the seventh-race feature at Santa Anita. Her attributes hit you on the head.
She is the only front-runner in the field. She finished second under virtually identical circumstances one month ago. She is drawn outside, racing at a sprint distance that favors speed, and facing only five rivals at the first allowance condition. Duh.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer John Dowd was looking for an easy spot to get Astrid started on her 2002 campaign and may have found one in the third-level optional claiming and allowance race that is the feature on Thursday's 10-race program at Gulfstream Park.
MIAMI, Fla. - Calder Race Course will offer a record $8.3 million in stakes purses during its expanded racing season this year. A total of $5.5 million in stakes purses will be offered during the Calder meet and another $2.8 million will be up for grabs during the Tropical-at-Calder meet.
Calder will open its doors on April 26, four weeks earlier than usual, with the spring-summer meet running through Oct. 25. The Tropical meet begins Oct. 26 and continues through Jan. 2, 2003.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Bay Monster, who was beaten by a nose by eventual Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Repent in a maiden race last September, returns from a three-month layoff Thursday in the featured ninth race at Oaklawn Park.
The 1 1/16-mile allowance, for 3-year-olds and up who have never won two races, has drawn 10. Also in the field are Cope With an Image, second to the dominating Paloma Parilla two weeks ago for trainer Lynn Whiting, and Contested, a promising maiden winner for trainer Gary Hartlage.
ALBANY, Calif. - If Thursday's third race at Golden Gate Fields had been held three months ago, it wouldn't have been the handicapping challenge it is now.
Handicappers looking at the one-mile $12,500 starter allowance turf race for fillies and mares probably would have settled quickly on Deli Dancer. After all, she had won four straight, including her first two starts on the turf.
But Deli Dancer may no longer be the "now" horse in a field with six rival 4-year-old fillies.
ALBANY, Calif. - After coming to California during the summer of 2000, jockey Jason Lumpkins enjoyed great success. He was able to maintain the high winning percentage he had shown while riding to championships in Ohio. Last spring at Bay Meadows, Lumpkins gave perennial leading jockey Russell Baze his first real challenge for a riding title in his 20-year reign.
Churchill Downs Inc., the owner of six racetracks in the United States, had net income of $22.1 million in 2001 on record revenues of $427 million, the company announced Monday.
While net income was up 15.2 percent compared with 2000, net income per share was down from $1.75 to $1.67. In 2001, Churchill issued 3.15 million shares of additional stock as part of its merger with Arlington Park. Revenues were up 17.6 percent, from $363 million in 2000.
Arson has been ruled out as a possible cause of the Evangeline Downs barn fire last Thursday that killed eight horses, according to officials at the Lafayette, La., track. The fire was accidental, but the cause has yet to be determined, said Charles Ashy Jr., vice president of Evangeline.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Meadows ended its abbreviated 2001-02 meeting on Sunday, handling a meet-topping $315,157 on 14 live races. The day brought the average handle for 46 live cards to $147,175, a 19 percent increase over last season's average of $123,332 for 80 programs.
Felipe Valdez earned his first riding title at the meet, while Jim Fergason was the leading trainer.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A strong storm Saturday night took racing off the turf at Gulfstream Park both Sunday and Monday, and trainer Mark Hennig hopes that trend continues one more day.
Hennig has entered the rapidly improving Pleasant County in Wednesday's featured eighth race, a second-level allowance race that is scheduled to be run at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
Pleasant County, who has won two straight on dirt, is entered for main track only, however, meaning, as Hennig said Monday, "I'm not going to run if it's on the turf."