Image Maker's return to the races in Sunday's $75,000-added Evan Shipman Handicap at Belmont Park has been called off.
Trainer Jim Bond said that Image Maker, a 4-year-old New York-bred, reaggravated an injury to his left foreleg that has kept him away from the races since last year's Albany Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 31.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Laffit Pincay Jr. started the Del Mar meeting on Wednesday the same way he finished at Hollywood Park on Monday: Sitting atop a tough group of jockeys.
Pincay won three races on Wednesday's nine-race program, all for trainer Bill Spawr. No other jockey or trainer won more than one race. Pincay, 54, is a leading contender for the riding title, attempting to win his third straight on the circuit, having started the year with success at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.
DEL MAR, Calif. - In the two weeks leading up to Sunday's Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap, Kona Gold has turned in the fastest work of the day and the slowest.
On July 5, the 7-year-old Kona Gold stunned even trainer Bruce Headley with a five-furlong workout in 56.60 seconds at Santa Anita, by far the fastest work of the day. Headley had expected a time closer to 57 seconds, or two lengths slower than the record time.
On Thursday at Del Mar, Kona Gold worked three furlongs in 39.20 seconds, the slowest of 21 works at the distance.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Chicago Six will try to bounce back from two disappointing losses when he starts Saturday in the Washington Park Handicap at Arlington Park. In Chicago Six's case, however, disappointing is a relative term. No one has a right to expect an $18,000 claim to develop into a graded stakes winner, as Chicago Six has for owner Richard Trebat and trainer J. R. Smith Sr. What he does from here on in is gravy.
MIAMI - The overwhelming response to Saturday's Carterista Handicap, which forced racing secretary Bob Umphrey to split the race into two divisions worth $50,000 each, reflects the lack of a clear-cut leader in the handicap turf division here.
With division leaders Band Is Passing and Pavillon committed to richer stakes up north, 21 horses entered the one-mile Carterista, 10 of whom run in the fourth race, the first division, and 11 in the 10th race.
The opening division of the Carterista drew the two biggest names in the race, Honorable Pic and Hal's Hope.
STANTON, Del. - Trainer Graham Motion is keeping the faith. Although Broken Vow failed as the favorite in what many handicappers viewed as a critical test, the Massachusetts Handicap, Motion still believes Broken Vow could wind up proving himself as one of the top older horses in North America this year.
Saturday, in his second start since the June 2 Mass Cap, Broken Vow will be a heavy favorite in the $100,000 R.R.M. Carpenter Jr. Stakes, the first of six stakes to be run at Delaware Park this weekend.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Is Beautiful Pleasure history? Or is she just getting back into shape?
These are questions to be answered Sunday in the $600,000 Delaware Handicap, the showcase race of the 140-day Delaware Park meet. Beautiful Pleasure is one of three logical favorites in the 1 1/4-mile Delaware Cap, along with Lazy Slusan and Jostle.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Ray Crawford, Rob Maybin, and Sid Martin will each saddle a horse in Saturday's Ladnesian Stakes. While Martin has been in this position on hundreds of occasions, Crawford and Maybin have rarely saddled horses in added-money events.
Crawford trains his own horses and has only had one stakes winner in his career. That was Laurarae, the dam of Colondelivery (pronounced Call-on-delivery), one of the favorites for the Ladnesian.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Sam-Son Farm, the breeder and owner of Queen's Plate winner, Dancethruthedawn, has become such a power in Canadian racing that a portion of the crowd automatically cheers for the opposition.
They see Sam-Son much the same way that the New York Yankees are viewed - skilled, powerful, and forever at or near the top of their game. They want to see a David slay Goliath. This attitude saddens Tammy Samuel-Balaz, who took over as head of the Sam-Son organization after her father Ernie Samuel died last year.