For the third year in a row, a bill legalizing off-track wagering and account betting has been introduced in the New Jersey legislature, and for the the third year in a row, horsemen and racing officials have their fingers crossed.
They should be hoping that they don't have their swords crossed.
STICKNEY, Ill. - Hide the children and run for cover. Hidden Assets is coming to town.
Hidden Assets, a 4-year-old filly owned by Richard, Bertram, and Elaine Klein, may be the shortest price of the Hawthorne meet when she starts Saturday in the $50,000 Regal Rumor Stakes. She faces six rivals in the six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The Lone Star Park turf course will get a workout over the holiday weekend, with an allowance match-up between two of the best turf horses on the grounds, Candid Glen and Gold Nugget, on Saturday, and three grass stakes on Monday: the $200,000 WinStar Distaff, the $200,000 USA, and the $100,000 Lone Star Park Turf Sprint.
The Monday stakes are three of seven that day worth a cumulative $1 million. Highlighted by the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap, the program is the richest day of racing in Texas.
According to the advance weather forecast for the East Coast, the Memorial Day weekend is more likely to be soggy than sunny. Rainy weather may be bad news for those planning on going to the beach, but sloppy conditions will enhance the chances of three contenders in Saturday's $75,000 Brandywine Stakes at Delaware Park.
Liberty Gold, Toddler, and Pine Dance are a collective 8 for 16 over wet surfaces, so their connections should be smiling if the track is sloppy or muddy for the one-mile Brandywine, which drew a field of 10, plus three also-eligibles.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - El Dorado Shooter, northern California's premier sprinter, is the one to beat despite drawing the rail against such tough foes as Gibson County and Five Star Day in the $50,000 Saratoga Handicap at six furlongs at Bay Meadows Saturday.
El Dorado Shooter's trainer, Cliff Delima, was not happy about drawing the rail, and said he will probably enter Sunday's $100,000 Los Angeles Handicap at Hollywood Park, and consider scratching out of Saturday's Saratoga.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Defending winner and highweight Sure Shot Biscuit heads a short field of five in Saturday's $75,000 Precisionist Handicap at Prairie Meadows.
Sure Shot Biscuit, a 5-year-old gelding, enters the 1 1/16-mile Precisionist off a five-length score in a one-mile allowance here on May 6. A two-time defending Iowa-bred horse of the year, Sure Shot Biscuit sports a record of 18-3-4 in 31 career starts. He has earned over $645,000 for owner Okoboji Racing Stable, making him the richest Iowa-bred ever.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - At least eight of the 29 nominees for the Massachusetts Handicap are expected to start in the $500,000 race on June 2. John H. Morrissey, racing secretary at Suffolk Downs, will release his weight assignments for the Grade 2 Mass Cap this Saturday.
As of Wednesday, Morrissey counted Broken Vow, Include, Sir Bear, Top Official, Turnofthecentury, Windrush, Personal Moon, and Crown Noble as probables.
For nearly 90 years, the seat of summer racing in Arizona was in Prescott, an hour and a half or so north of Phoenix and its 100-plus degree summer temperatures.
But there's a new home for the horses and horsemen, most of whom spend the rest of the year racing at Turf Paradise.
Yavapai Downs makes it debut Saturday, its $23 million facility replacing the aged Prescott Downs a few miles away.
CALGARY, Alberta - Timboruck, a close second in the Stampede Park Sprint Championship last time out, is the one to beat in the $18,800 allowance/optional claimer that serves as Friday's feature.
T J Quigley, 2 for 2 here this spring including a May 11 win in a similar six-furlong dash, is the main threat in the field of five.
Timboruck will break from the inside under Rickey Walcott while T J Quigley begins from post 4 under the meet's leading rider, Richard Hamel.
Rounding out the small but talented lineup will be Shady Remark, Tyko Tycoon, and Young Runaway.
AUBURN, Wash. - Better Than That, an impressive winner over $12,500 rivals in his seasonal debut on May 3, will attempt to repeat on the $20,000 claiming level when he meets seven other older sprinters in Friday's 6 1/2-furlong feature at Emerald Downs.