POMONA, Calif. - More than 1,000 Thoroughbreds are stabled at Fairplex Park, and Los Angeles County Fair racing secretary Richard Wheeler expects a busy entry box. "The barn area will be full, so it's just a matter of people entering and running," Wheeler said Wednesday morning.
A conspicuous absence from Friday's opening-day card was Quarter Horses and Appaloosas. "There just aren't as many mixed-breed horses," Wheeler said.
POMONA, Calif. - The turns are so tight on Fairplex Park's five-eighths mile track that "sometimes you have to be lucky to get around there," noted trainer Paddy Gallagher.
Most of the time, however, you only need the best horse. The Los Angeles County Fair meet opens Friday for 18 consecutive days of racing, and Gallagher's front-runner Coil N Strike will try to make his own luck in the traditional opening-day feature, the $50,000 Foothill Stakes for 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Northlands Park race fans got another view of the future over the Labor Day weekend, as potential 2002 Canadian Derby candidates ran Saturday in the $50,000 Birdcatcher for 2-year-old colts and geldings at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Duplicating a feat performed by Fancy As, this year's Canadian Derby winner Dance Me Free pulled off a lucrative double, adding a victory in the Birdcatcher to his Edmonton Juvenile win here Aug. 1.
AUBURN, Wash. - A $105,000 Fit to Fight colt and a $100,000 Smart Strike filly topped Tuesday's Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association summer yearling sale.
In all, 136 yearlings sold for $2,404,400. The average price of $17,679 was down 14 percent from last year's sale, which was held in conjunction with a dispersal of 505 Farms horses that attracted many well-heeled buyers.
Horseplayers who complain about field size shouldn't have many beefs during the 70-day meet that opens Friday night at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Ind.
Eleven races, all but two with full fields of 10 starters, are on tap for the opener, a card that track officials believe is a sign of things to come. In recent seasons, Hoosier has become a bettor's delight, primarily because of the allure of the purse structure.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Suddenly, because of the 5-year-old gelding Promise of War, the Pat Cuccurullo stable requires a new tool.
"We had to dig out a national stakes condition book," Cuccurullo said Wednesday morning, having finished training his barn full of claiming stock. "We finally found one, and it was from the second quarter of 2000. It's not something we usually use."
MUSKEGON, Mich. - The track record for seven furlongs of 1:26.42 fell three times over the holiday weekend, as a new series of four seven-furlong $25,000 stakes races were run.
Last year's top 3-year-old filly at this meet, Flyinghannah, won the Great Lakes Handicap on Saturday in a track-record 1:25.72.
The ink was barely dry on Flyinghannah's record when Above the Wind won the Beau Genius Handicap in 1:25.67. Secret Romeo lived up to his star billing in the Wink Novotny Memorial for 3-year-olds, winning despite trouble in 1:24.77.
Tic N Tin was a surprise entrant in Monday's Labor Day Sprint, coming off a nose defeat in the $100,000 Arlington Sprint to Breeders' Cup hopeful Bet on Sunshine.
According to trainer Ron Brandenburg, "he needed a blowout anyway so we thought this would serve the purpose." The "blowout" turned turned into a track-record performance under leading rider Vincente Flores. His time of 51.40 eclipsed the 23-year-old standard of 51.60 for 4 1/2 furlongs. Tic N Tin, who is stabled locally, usually races in Chicago but is perfect in three starts here. He returned $2.80.
COLUMBUS, Neb. - The small size of the jockey colony was evident Monday afternoon when only nine riders were in the room for the nine-race card. Six horses scratched for lack of a rider.
Leading rider Jerry Carkeek won four races on both Saturday evening and Monday afternoon. He owns a 42-25 advantage over Armando Martinez in the standings. Also on Monday, newcomer Alex Granda had three wins and Dennis Baxter two. Carkeek, Granda, and Baxter accounted for all the races Monday.
Apprentice jockey Carlos Castro is still learning English. Meanwhile, he's allowing his riding to do all his talking.
Castro, 19, moved ahead of the injured Travis Dunkelberger last week as Charles Town's leading rider at the summer meet. Castro rode his first winner in his native Puerto Rico last January and has 37 winners in 256 mounts since coming to West Virginia.