Monmouth Park had a successful opening weekend, which started of with thick fog early in the opening-day card Saturday that made it difficult to view the races.
Saturday’s attendance was 11,138, a 9.5 percent increase over the 10,168 fans who turned out on opening day a year ago. All-sources handle Saturday was $3,776,955, a decrease of 6.2 percent from 2014. The ontrack handle of $655,007 was up 12.3 percent from a year ago.
Juan Carlos Guerrero has been reinstated as a trainer at Parx Racing and last Tuesday won his first race at the track since Dec. 26, 2011.
Guerrero, the leading trainer by wins at Parx in 2011, was banned from the track for 10 years after he allegedly inappropriately touched a female employee of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association at Parx on Nov. 16, 2011.
Guerrero raced his horses in New York in 2012 before his wife, Lisa, became the trainer of record in early 2013 and they resumed racing at Parx. Guerrero assisted his wife at the barn each day.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Imperative, second in the $1.45 million Charles Town Classic in his most recent start April 18, is being rested on a local farm and will be trained by Richard Baltas when he resumes racetrack activity in the coming weeks, owner Kenji Morinaga said.
Morinaga said Baltas will replace George Papaprodromou as trainer. Papaprodromou claimed Imperative for Morinaga for $50,000 in December 2013. In 2014, Imperative had one win in 11 starts – the Charles Town Classic – and earned $1,265,700. Imperative is winless in three starts this year, earning $304,250.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Bolo, who finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby on May 2, has resumed training in Southern California for a potential start in the $1.25 million Belmont Derby at Belmont Park on July 4.
Trainer Carla Gaines said it is unlikely that Bolo will have a prep race before the Grade 1 Belmont Derby, which is run at 1 1/4 miles on turf.
Preakness Day is going to be like Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day all rolled into one for jockey Trevor McCarthy, who not only will ride in his first Triple Crown race but also celebrate his 21st birthday.
McCarthy will ride Bodhisattva in the Preakness for owner and trainer Jose Corrales. Bodhisattva, based at Laurel Park, improved over the winter and in his last start scored a front-running win for McCarthy in the Federico Tesio Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Pimlico.
Golden Gate Fields has revised its post times for the remainder of the meeting.
Thursday and Friday race days will begin with a 1:15 p.m. Pacific first post. Weekend and holiday racing on Memorial Day will start at 12:45 p.m. First post will be 11:45 a.m. on Triple Crown dates, Saturday for the Preakness and June 6 for the Belmont.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Though he finished third, beaten 3 1/2 lengths in Sunday’s $98,000 Diablo Stakes, Palace Malice remains on course for a repeat bid in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on June 6, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.
In his first start since a sixth-place finish in last August’s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes, Palace Malice broke a step slowly, raced three to four wide throughout, and made a mild bid under John Velazquez in the six-furlong Diablo, finishing behind Stallwalkin’ Dude and Clearly Now.
ELMONT, N.Y. – General a Rod, who ran in all three Triple Crown races last year and who is a two-time listed stakes winner on dirt, worked four furlongs in 48.80 seconds Sunday morning over the Belmont Park turf course.
It was a solid work, which was done around a trio of orange traffic cones set up to keep workers off the part of the inner turf course where the races are run. John Velazquez was aboard for the move in which General a Rod smoked home the final quarter in 22 seconds.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Overshadowed by all the stakes action over the weekend was the performance by the New York-bred Wincoma, who came off a layoff of nearly eight months to win a New York-bred first-level allowance race by 3 1/4 lengths on Saturday.
Wincoma, a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Palace, ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.82 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Twilight Eclipse, who recorded his first Grade 1 victory in Saturday’s $400,000 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont Park, could make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan Stakes on June 6, trainer Tom Albertrani said Monday.
Following the Man o’ War, Albertrani said that he would likely wait for the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth Park on July 5. But after talking to Terry Finley, head of the West Point Thoroughbreds syndicate which owns Twilight Eclipse, Albertrani said the Manhattan on the Belmont Stakes undercard is an option.
