Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., on Tuesday announced it will run 20 stakes at its meet, which opens April 8. The stakes will be worth a collective $1.3 million.
The $100,000 Evangeline Mile for 3-year-olds and up is the richest race of the meet and will be held June 27. Louisiana Legends Night, a program of eight statebred stakes worth $550,000, is May 30.
Evangeline will race 84 dates through Aug. 29.
Delta Downs in Vinton, La., will offer an all-stakes pick four with a minimum guaranteed pool of $50,000 on its Louisiana Premier Night program Saturday, said Chris Warren, the track’s director of racing.
Warren said the sequence will start with the sixth race and end with the ninth, the $150,000 Louisiana Premier Night Championship.
The program features a number of stakes for Louisiana-breds and starts at 5:10 p.m. Central.
Robertino Diodoro, who ranked as the third-winningest trainer in North America in 2019, said he plans to have a division of horses at the Lone Star Park meet, which opens April 16.
Diodoro moved into the Texas market in January, when he set up a division at Sam Houston. He’s gone 4 for 13 with his starters and had four seconds at Houston.
Enforceable had his first work since winning the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds when he breezed a half-mile under Declan Carroll in 49.80 seconds on Sunday.
Working alone, Enforceable didn’t post a flashy time (nor is he a flashy work horse), but David Carroll, assistant to trainer Mark Casse, seemed more than satisfied with the drill.
Two-year-old filly champion British Idiom took another step toward her 3-year-old debut Feb. 15 in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes with an in-company five-furlong workout Sunday morning at Fair Grounds.
British Idiom was timed in 1:01.80, a full second slower than her work the week before, but a more than satisfactory morning showing.
“Not as fast this week, but she worked really, really good,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She’ll do something easier next Sunday and then that’s it.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Laddie Liam has not had an easy time of it since being purchased by Leonard Green’s DJ Stable for $450,000 out of Fasig-Tipton’s Mid-Atlantic sale in December.
First, Laddie Liam missed the Jerome Stakes on Jan. 1 due to a foot injury. Now, Laddie Liam will be sidelined four to six months with a tendon injury after an on-track incident a few weeks ago, according to Jon Green, the racing manager for his father’s operation.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After dominating Sunday’s Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct, Harvey’s Lil Goil was set to return to trainer Bill Mott’s Florida base at Payson Park this week while he contemplates how best to get the 3-year-old filly to the Kentucky Oaks.
Churchill Downs has contracted with an Australian company to produce a 20-stall starting gate that will be used for this year’s Kentucky Derby, the racetrack announced on Monday.
The 20-stall starting gate will allow Churchill to eliminate a gap between the 14th and 15th starting stalls in the Derby field, which is capped at 20 horses. Since 1942, Churchill Downs has used a six-stall “auxiliary” gate for the Derby any time the field exceeded 14 horses, with the auxiliary gate positioned adjacent to the 14-stall gate, nearer the outside rail.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Blings Express, an 11-year-old gelding who finished seventh in an $8,000 claiming race here Jan. 16, has been retired to a new career, co-owner Rich Averill reported last week.
Blings Express, a gray Florida-bred, won 23 of 83 starts and earned $518,898. Averill claimed him with CCF Racing at Tampa Bay Downs in March 2016, becoming the 10th and last ownership entity to campaign him.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While adhering to a steady work schedule at Palm Meadows, the 3-year-old colt As Seen On Tv still has no definite next start in his immediate future, trainer Kelly Breen said early Monday.
“We still don’t know where or when yet,” Breen said.
As Seen On Tv was narrowly defeated at Gulfstream Park by Chance It, one of the circuit’s most accomplished 3-year-olds, in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 4. The son of Lookin At Lucky has two wins and two seconds from four career starts.
