East Rutherford, N.J. - The purse supplement the New Jersey legislature gave to the state's racing industry has been tapped out right as the meet is closing, so the three stakes set for the final card on Saturday will revert to their original five-figure purses. Regardless, several of the region's best horses are entered as the curtain falls on one of the best Meadowlands Thoroughbred meets in several years.
Hawthorne Racecourse has pulled the $50,000 guarantee on its pick six wager after losing money on the bet each time it was hit this meet - on four of the first five cards.
It was the second time this year that Hawthorne canceled a pick six guarantee. During its spring meet, Hawthorne guaranteed the pick six for $100,000, but the guarantee was pulled after bettors hit the wager on six of the first nine cards. Handle was in excess of $100,000 on only one of the payouts.
The pick six returned for the live racing card on Wednesday, but without the guarantee.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Churchill Downs, in conjunction with sister tracks Calder and Hollywood Park, will revive the Turf Pick 3 wager on selected weekend programs this fall, beginning Saturday.
The wager links one turf race from each of the three tracks. It will be offered both days this weekend and on Nov. 17 and 18. The takeout is 20 percent, with Calder serving as the wagering hub.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Julian Pimentel's huge autumn at the Meadowlands should give Eclipse Award voters pause before rubber-stamping favored Jeremy Rose for the top apprentice award.
If they decided the Eclipse based on the toughest commute, these two men would still be the front-runners. Both riders have been pulling double duty riding day and night. While Rose has had the longer of the two commutes, coming to The Meadowlands from Delaware after their races, Pimentel has had to brave grueling New York rush hours to get to New Jersey from Belmont.
MIAMI, Fla. - To turf or not to turf. That will be the question when 2-year-olds, the majority of whom have never raced on the grass, square off in Saturday's co-featured Lulu's Ransom and Fabulous Frolic Stakes at a mile on the turf. Both races carry a purse of $60,000 with registered Florida-breds preferred in both events.
Saturday's $55,000-added Star Ball Handicap, the first of 30 stakes on the 2001-2002 Golden Gate Fields schedule, is a rematch of the top finishers from $50,000 Hillsborough Handicap, run at Bay Meadows on Oct. 13. In the 1 1/16-mile Hillsborough run over the Longden turf course, Slow Down rallied far wide in the stretch run to outnod Aviate for her first stakes victory.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - In what may be the final chance to impress Eclipse Award voters, Val Royal, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile at Belmont Park last month, may start in the $500,000 Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park on Nov. 24.
On Thursday at Santa Anita, Val Royal worked three furlongs in 36 seconds to the delight of trainer Julio Canani.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Richard Migliore and Robbie Davis, two jockeys who have made Gulfstream Park their winter home the last several years, will stay in New York and ride at Aqueduct this winter.
Both riders cited family matters as the primary reason for their decision.
Migliore's wife, Carmela, recently gave birth to the couple's fourth child and first daughter. Migliore said he also wanted to spend more time with his three growing sons.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Include, seventh as the 10-1 fifth choice in the Breeders' Cup Classic, has joined the prospective field for the Nov. 23 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs and will have Pat Day aboard.
Trainer Bud Delp said Thursday from Maryland that Include came out of the Classic in good shape and that the colt "looked like he wanted to do something. I'm sure that if he'd won, we'd have put him away for the year. But we looked around and thought the Clark would be the right spot."
Chicago Six, the reformed claimer who turned into a graded stakes winner this year, will seek his second consecutive win in the $75,000 Illinois Coronet Handicap at Hawthorne on Saturday. The race, at 1 1/16 miles, is the highlight of a card that features four stakes exclusively for Illinois-breds.