JAMAICA, N.Y. - The distance of the Cigar Mile might not be ideal for Graeme Hall, but the race's Grade 1 rating holds a significant attraction for the horse's connections.
*, who is expected to race again next year, has won three Grade 2 races, the Jim Dandy, Arkansas Derby, and Eclipse, and the Grade 3 Stuyvesant. But a Grade 1 victory has eluded him.
The holidays are a time to be spent with loved ones, but this week, Gander is going to have to go it alone. He will have to leave his steady companion, Heather's Promise, back at Belmont Park, and venture to the wilds of Kentucky all by his lonesome. Time to buck up.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Led by an international cast of stars featuring Breeders' Cup runner-ups Forbidden Apple and Spook Express* (click here for lifetime PP's), and such highly regarded stakes runners as Aldebaran, El Cielo, Golden Apples, Irish Prize, Janet, Starine, Startac, Swept Overboard, Tranquility Lake, and Western Pride, Hollywood Park's Autumn Turf Festival promises to offer some of its best racing in years.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Fonz's, the winner of Saturday's Hollywood Prevue Stakes* (click here for chart), is the latest horse owned by David LaCroix's Meadowbrook Farms Inc. who was named for a restaurant.
Most of the horses LaCroix races are sold if they do well enough, such as Meetyouathebrig, named for a restaurant near Del Mar. But Fonz's remained with LaCroix after a potential sale this summer fell through because, LaCroix said, Fonz's did not pass a veterinary exam performed by the potential buyer.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The familiar faces are tired and worn, stuck at this first-condition allowance level for months. In these circumstances, it is tempting to go searching for a newcomer, and in Wednesday's featured seventh race at Hollywood Park, it just might pay off.
MIAMI - Mr. Pleasentfar and Best of the Rest should give the home team its strongest one-two punch in the turf and dirt handicap divisions in recent memory when the south Florida-based horses make their next starts in major stakes at the end of the Tropical-at-Calder meeting.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Judging by Voodoo's* (click here for lifetime PP's) monster return to the races in his last start, it wouldn't be crazy to run him in Saturday's Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. But it wouldn't be prudent either.
With that in mind, trainer Jimmy Jerkens has elected to run Voodoo back in Thursday's $100,000, Grade 2 Fall Highweight Handicap at six furlongs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The narrow margin that separated Unbridled Elaine and Spain on the finish line in the Breeders' Cup Distaff is reflected in the weight assignments for the $250,000 Falls City Handicap, the Thursday race that should provide a dramatic rematch of the two standout fillies.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Radiance looks to keep her magical 6-year-old season going Wednesday when she takes on five rivals in a $54,000 classified allowance race going six furlongs at Aqueduct.
A Venezuelan-bred daughter of Sard, Radiance has won eight of 14 races this year, including her last two for trainer Scott Lake, who claimed the mare off Gasper Moschera in August at Saratoga for $50,000. In April, Lake claimed Radiance for $50,000 from Moschera only to have Moschera claim her back in July for the same amount.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Now is the time of year that most owners and trainers begin to determine whether their top fillies and mares will continue racing next year or begin their careers as broodmares.
For owner Robert Masterson and trainer T.V. Smith, it might seem a given that they would retire Another. After all, Another is a 4-year-old Seattle Slew filly who earlier this year earned graded stakes type by winning the Grade 3 First Lady Handicap at Gulfstream Park.
But Another will race next year at 5, Smith said Sunday.
