ARCADIA, Calif. – California trainer Mark Tsagalakis is switching careers.
Tsagalakis started his last horse last Sunday at Santa Anita and is in the process of launching a consignment business for yearling and broodmare sales in Kentucky, he said Thursday.
Tsagalakis and business partner Terry Nickell will operate Endeavor Farm, and Endeavor Sales, from a farm in Midway, Ky.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After memorable Kentucky Derby and Preakness weekends, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will be looking to complete his own Triple Crown of sorts.
On Derby Day, May 5, Asmussen became just the second trainer in North American racing history with 8,000 career wins when Lookin At Lee won a Churchill Downs allowance. And on Preakness Friday and Saturday (May 18-19) at Pimlico, Asmussen earned $50,000 in a trainers’ competition when his stable won for four stakes among other sharp performances.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Medaglia d’Oro colt purchased for $1.2 million at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale in Maryland on Tuesday arrived in California on Wednesday. Thursday morning, the colt was put to work at Santa Anita, jogging a mile.
The expensive price tag for the colt has left bloodstock agent Dennis O’Neill with a clear goal for the summer.
“The Del Mar Futurity,” he replied. “We’ll work our way back from there.”
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Nick Nosowenko is back on the Queen’s Plate trail this season with Cooler Mike, who won a key allowance prep at Woodbine on May 20.
Nosowenko has had one previous Queen’s Plate starter, Rackman, who finished 12th in the Plate back in 2013. Nosowenko said Rackman provided much needed experience for his training career when it comes to preparing a horse for the 1 1/4-mile Queen’s Plate.
Victor Carrasco, who badly broke his lower right leg in two places in a spill at Delaware Park last September, galloped horses for the first time since being injured Tuesday at Laurel Park.
Carrasco, the Eclipse Award-winning apprentice of 2013 and one of the top riders in Maryland, has put in countless hours of rehab in recent months and now is taking the next step in his recovery.
“It feels good to be back working,” Carrasco said. “My legs are getting stronger every day.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Audible, deemed by many the biggest threat to derail Justify’s bid for a Triple Crown, will not run in the June 9 Belmont Stakes, his connections announced Friday.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said he does not feel that Audible, the Grade 1 Florida Derby winner, is training the way he was prior to the Kentucky Derby, where he finished third, and plans call for him to be freshened for a summer campaign that could begin in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 28.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The idea was discussed in earnest among four Southern Californians during a regular Saturday golf game on May 19, the morning of the Preakness Stakes.
By the end of the round, the four men, all devoted sports fans, decided to buy a pick six ticket at Santa Anita. By the end of the afternoon, the quartet had invested $960 and collected $714,919.
“I’ve hit the pick sixes through the years,” said Doug, one member of the group. “None as big as this one.”
Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colo., has added Monday racing to its calendar for the 39-date meet that opens Saturday. The track features Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing. The meet runs through Aug. 12.
Arapahoe will race every Saturday, Sunday, and Monday and also plans to race on the Fridays of June 1, June 29, July 27, and Aug. 10. The cards on Fridays will largely be for trial races, said Bill Powers, plant manager and racing secretary for Arapahoe.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Diversify, last as the 6-5 favorite in the $1.2 million Charles Town Classic April 21 in his 5-year-old debut, will drop back into New York-bred company in Monday’s $200,000 Commentator Stakes as part of the New York Showcase Day program.
Diversify was beaten a nose by Weekend Hideaway in last year’s Commentator, but then went on a three-race winning streak that culminated with a front-running score in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Veteran racing official Pat Pope has been hired as racing secretary at Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday.
Pope will continue to be the racing secretary at Oaklawn Park, where he has served in that capacity since 1995, and holds that same position at Prairie Meadows, which is running a Thoroughbred meet through Aug. 11. Pope will come to Belmont on May 30 and work here for three weeks before returning to Prairie Meadows to complete that meet.
