ETOBICOKE, Ontario – As the Woodbine meet enters its final week, Steve Koch, vice president of Thoroughbred racing for Woodbine Entertainment Group, said an analysis of the main-track surface is ongoing, and a decision on a potential surface change likely won’t be made until March.
“It’s still an open case,” he said. “All avenues are under full consideration.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Private Zone will be in a New York state of mind – and being – in 2015.
Private Zone, the winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile, will be based in New York next year, with one of his major goals being the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in June, according to Rene Douglas, the former jockey who manages the horse for Good Friends Stable.
DEL MAR, Calif. — Valiant Emilia, the Peruvian-bred filly who was eighth of 11 in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita on Oct. 31, will get much-needed class relief when she starts in Saturday’s $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes for fillies and mares at Los Alamitos.
Her appearance in the Grade 2 Bayakoa was confirmed after a five-furlong workout in 1:00.60 at Santa Anita on Sunday. The Bayakoa is run over 1 1/16 miles and is the richest race for fillies and mares at the three-week Los Alamitos December meeting, which begins Thursday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Back a few years, when Winning Move Stable was the leading owner in wins on this circuit, few people enjoyed the operation’s success more that Adam Sigler, son of the stable’s managing partner, Steve Sigler.
Though Adam Sigler did not own any of the horses, he was a constant presence at the track.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Peter Miller won three races Thursday, including with Finnegans Wake in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup, to open a commanding lead in the trainers’ standings.
Entering Friday’s card, Miller was three wins ahead of Mike Puype, 12-9, and they were well clear of the rest of the field. Statistically, Puype still had a chance to catch Miller, but Miller had far more firepower over the final days of the meet and seemed certain of nabbing his third title at this track in the past 2 1/2 years.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Christophe Clement won the Grade 1 Bing Crosby the first year it was run on Polytrack in 2007, he won the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks last year with Discreet Marq, and over the years, he has sent numerous other horses such as the grass runner Summer Front here for stakes races. But not until Friday morning had he ever set foot at Del Mar.
“It’s hard to get away during Saratoga,” Clement said Friday. “I can’t get out. But when they had this meet, it was my chance.”
The Polytrack era at Del Mar ends Sunday, and the racetrack plans to give away the synthetic material to the first takers.
Through December, the surface will be removed from the racetrack and stored on the infield of the backstretch training track. While work begins on the installation of the dirt track that will be used for racing beginning in 2015, Del Mar will offer the Polytrack surface to anyone, free of charge.
“We’ll load it up for you,” track president Joe Harper said.
NEW ORLEANS – About a year ago at Fair Grounds, jockey Kerwin Clark and trainer Larry Jones teamed up for the first time, with Clark riding Albano to victory in a maiden race. Now, Clark is the go-to rider for Jones, and the 55-year-old jockey, who has nearly 40 years in the saddle, said that because of their connection, he’s rejuvenated.
STICKNEY, Ill. – Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Work All Week is getting a winter break at the Ocala, Fla.-area farm of owners-breeders Rich and Karen Papiese.
Work All Week flew from California to Florida following his BC Sprint win at Santa Anita. At first, he was turned out in a round pen and recently has been spending time in a one-acre paddock.
“We’ll give him at least 30 days,” Rich Papiese said. “We’ll monitor the situation, but there’s no reason to hurry back.”
