Fri, 12/11/2015 - 14:08

Callaghan intends to take his time with Firing Line

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Simon Callaghan hasn't yet chosen a race for Firing Line to begin his 4-year-old campaign.

Firing Line, second in the Kentucky Derby earlier this year and second in the Los Alamitos Futurity last December, is scheduled to return to trainer Simon Callaghan’s stable at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Callaghan said he intends to take a patient approach to the start of Firing Line’s 4-year-old season in 2016.

“We’re not setting any specific targets,” he said. “We’ll take our time, and when the horse is ready we’ll look for a race.”

Callaghan said the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 12 “will be a touch quick.”

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 14:08

Hollywood Don will try dirt again in Los Alamitos Futurity

Nikki Sherman
Hollywood Don will make his second Grade 1 start on dirt this year in the Los Alamitos Futurity.

CYPRESS, Calif. – A stakes winner on turf, Hollywood Don will switch surfaces and run in his second Grade 1 of the year on dirt in the $300,000 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 19.

From trainer Peter Miller’s perspective, the Los Alamitos Futurity provides an ideal opportunity to see if it’s worth pointing Hollywood Don to dirt stakes for 3-year-olds in 2016.

“We’ll give him a try and see if we can’t turn him into a dirt horse,” Miller said on Friday. “There are no monsters in there as of yet. They could turn out to be. It looks wide open.”

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 13:35

Battaglia preparing for life after announcer's booth

Barbara D. Livingston
Mike Battaglia will call the races live at Churchill Downs from Oct. 26 through Nov. 2 while Larry Collmus is on leave.

Turfway Park fans who heard Jimmy McNerney call the races Friday night will be hearing more of him this winter as longtime announcer Mike Battaglia nears retiring from the booth. Battaglia, who will turn 66 in February, said this week he is “starting to ease out” of his race-calling duties at the northern Kentucky track, where he has been a fixture since 1972.

McNerney, a longtime jockey agent who became the caller at Ellis Park this past summer, will fill in for Battaglia by calling at least one program a week at Turfway, which runs through April 3.

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 12:14

14-year-old Missing Sefa to race again

Missing Sefa, who will turn 14 on Jan. 1, will be pointed to another race in the starter-allowance ranks after beating just one opponent and finishing 20 lengths behind the winner last Sunday at Turfway.

Owner-trainer Jamie Grubbs said this week that Missing Sefa, a winner of 28 races from 112 career starts, “came out of her race great.”

“She loves her job and wants to keep doing it,” Grubbs said. “As long as she’s sound and happy, we’ll be looking for a race.”

Thu, 12/10/2015 - 15:14

Leave the Light On returns Saturday in optional claimer

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Leave the Light On won the Grade 2 Remsen in 2014, and he will make his first start since in a second-level optional-claiming race Saturday at Aqueduct.

The race is at a mile and 70 yards and is limited to 10 starters, though 11 were entered. Leave the Light On drew the rail.

Trainer Chad Brown said Leave the Light On initially was off due to an injury for which he “needed extended recovery time.”

The horse then suffered a few setbacks while trying to make it back earlier this year. He shows 11 workouts beginning Sept. 22 through Dec. 5.

Thu, 12/10/2015 - 15:14

New whip rules goes into effect Jan. 1

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jockeys who ride at New York Racing Association tracks will be limited to whipping their horses three times in succession under a new rule that will go into effect Jan. 1.

Currently, riders may hit a horse up to five times in succession with the whip before waiting a stride or two then going back to the whip.

The stewards met with riders before the races Wednesday to inform them of the new regulation, which is a house rule and not a state rule. The new rule is similar to what was implemented at Southern California tracks in July.

Thu, 12/10/2015 - 13:20

McKee high on homegrown Aye a Song in Casey Memorial

Coady Photography
Aye a Song will start in Saturday's Eleanor Casey Memorial at Charles Town.

The Eleanor Casey Memorial at Charles Town on Saturday night honors the family matriarch, who with her husband, James W. Casey, founded nearby Taylor Mountain Farm. Eleanor Casey died in 2005 after being injured during a training-hours accident at Charles Town.

The $50,000 Casey Memorial, a seven-furlong race for West Virginia-bred 2-year-old fillies, has drawn a full field of 10, plus two also-eligibles. The Casey family will be well represented as John Casey, Eleanor’s son, has four horses in the body of the race, and James W. Casey also has a runner.

Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:42

Gelo Hall dies at age 88

Gelo Hall, who spent almost his entire life in one capacity or another at the racetracks of Maryland, died Thursday morning at age 88. He had recently suffered a stroke, according to his daughter, Janis Hall.

Hall, whose full name was Howard Gordon Hall Jr., was introduced to racing by his father, a valet in the jockeys’ rooms in Maryland. He was in attendance at Pimlico for the Seabiscuit-War Admiral match race of 1938 and would go on to work as an exercise rider, trainer, jockey agent, and racing official.

Wed, 12/09/2015 - 15:31

Rich card closes out Remington meet

Lynn Roberts/Hodges Photography
Uncle Brennie will start on Sunday in the $250,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park.

Stakes winners Cash Bonus, Suddenbreakingnews, and Uncle Brennie will meet maiden special weight winners from Kentucky and Southern California on Sunday in the $250,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park. The race for 2-year-olds anchors a card of five stakes on the closing-day program at the Oklahoma City track.

The $100,000 Trapeze for 2-year-old fillies at a mile drew shippers from trainers Wayne Catalano, Larry Jones, and Ken McPeek.

Wed, 12/09/2015 - 15:22

Mr. Jordan, Juan and Bina surprise additions to Harlan's Holiday cast

Nikki Sherman
The 3-year-old Mr. Jordan will challenge older horses in Saturday's Harlan's Holiday.

There were a couple of surprise entrants when Saturday’s $100,000 Harlan’s Holiday Stakes was drawn on Wednesday at Gulfstream Park, Mr. Jordan and Juan and Bina. They were originally going to run in last Sunday’s one-mile Aventura Stakes for 3-year-olds, but that race was not used, in part, because of the forecast for inclement weather.