JAMAICA, N.Y. - During the four months he was sidelined by injury, jockey Jose Santos thought long and hard about his career. He decided that he wants to ride for another five to seven years, and he plans on making the most of that time.
"I'm definitely not going to beat Laffit Pincay," Santos said, referring to Thoroughbred racing's all-time winningest rider. "I'm just trying to imitate him a little bit."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Kona Gold, the beaten favorite in the Breeders' Cup Sprint last month at Belmont Park, will be given six weeks off after failing to impress trainer Bruce Headley in the Frank J. De Francis Memor-ial Dash at Laurel Park in Maryland last weekend.
Headley on Friday said that Kona Gold, the champion sprinter of 2000, has been turned out on property at his home in Arcadia, Calif., near Santa Anita.
"He's either lost interest, he's over the hill, he didn't like the track, or I didn't train him right," Headley said. "There is a lot of speculation."
NEW ORLEANS - The developing Flick, the stakes-placed Purple Princess, and the speedy Right Spice form the backbone of Sunday's $60,000 Pontalba Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, though neither can the three other entrants in the Pontalba be eliminated. File the race under "closely matched."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Based on sheer volume, trainer Bobby Frankel should win the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Sunday at Hollywood Park.
Frankel starts four of the 14 runners in the $500,000 derby, each with fitting credentials. Denon's European form makes him the likeliest winner. He will be coupled with Aldebaran, who crushed older in his United States debut at Belmont. Frankel also starts Bay Meadows Derby winner Blue Steller, and Mizzen Mast, who is being wheeled back in 18 days after a win in a scorching 1:34.15 for a mile.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Gonetofarr, who earned one of the highest Beyer Speed Figures by a 2-year-old at Woodbine this year in her last outing, should be favored in Sunday's $144,180 Ontario Lassie, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for Canadian-bred juvenile fillies.
Trainer Reade Baker said Gonetofarr, a daughter of Southern Halo, has come a long way since the spring.
No, life isn't that grand at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., where four-plus months of winter racing gets under way Sunday.
For the last several years, Turfway's business has been hurt by nearby Indiana riverboats and full-card simulcast competition in Ohio, with average ontrack attendance and handle having been cut nearly in half since 1995. This drastic turn of events has led track president Bob Elliston to spend much of his time recently traveling around the state, pleading for help from Kentucky state legislators.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Olympian began his 2001 campaign on a high note, breaking the five-furlong track record at Woodbine when he romped to victory in 56.07 seconds in just the second race of the meeting March 31.
"At that point, I thought he was going to have a great year," said trainer John Cardella, who owns Olympian in partnership with John Sullivan's Rexdale Stable.
NEW ORLEANS - Bonapaw's outstanding performance Thursday at Fair Grounds apparently left him no worse for wear, and trainer Tucker Alonzo deemed Bonapaw a likely participant in the next sprint stakes here, the F.W. Gaudin Memorial Handicap on Dec. 16.
"He came back good," Alonzo said Friday morning. "He ate everything up last night. We'll try to keep the same schedule as last year."
MIAMI - The first major stakes races of the Tropical at Calder meet will be run next weekend, the Mecke and its filly counterpart, the Hollywood Wildcat. Both races are for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the turf and have drawn 30 and 32 nominations, a large majority from Northern-based outfits who have already arrived on the scene for the winter campaign.