ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Trainer Mike Stidham’s run of stakes success continued through Labor Day weekend, when the 3-year-old Pirate’s Trove remained unbeaten after three starts with her second stakes win at Woodbine, and the 2-year-old filly Her Emmynency came within a neck of capturing the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante.
Pirate’s Trove has returned to Arlington, but Her Emmynency will remain in California and could be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Stidham said Tuesday.
Ide Be Cool will find himself in an unfamiliar position Saturday, when he starts in the Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. He will be seeking a return to the win column after suffering his first defeat in eight career starts in last month’s local prep for the race, the $100,000 Prelude.
Stanley Gold dominated the opening legs of the 2014 Florida Sire Series at Gulfstream Park, and the veteran trainer figures to do more of the same Saturday, when sending out the heavy favorites in the middle legs of the series – Sing Praises in the $250,000 Affirmed division and Leap Year Luck in its filly counterpart, the $250,000 Susan’s Girl.
The Affirmed and Susan’s Girl top an outstanding 12-race program Saturday at Gulfstream that attracted 147 entries. Seven of the races, including both stakes, will be for 2-year-olds. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Well before the curtain came down Monday on Saratoga’s 146th meet, rumors began flying about next year’s Saratoga season.
For more than a week, there has been chatter about changing the structure of the 40-day meet from 6 1/2 weeks at six days a week to eight weeks, racing five days a week.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Lord Nelson, a debut winner July 19, was expected to be one of the leading contenders in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Wednesday. But trainer Bob Baffert kept him out of the race, saying he was not satisfied with the way Lord Nelson had trained in recent weeks on Polytrack.
:: Del Mar closing day: Get PPs, watch Wednesday's card live
DEL MAR, Calif. – When the Del Mar meet started July 17, Rafael Bejarano had not ridden a race in more than two months, owing to multiple injuries sustained in an accident on the downhill turf course at Santa Anita in May. It took him a while to find his groove, but he found it all right.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Winning a Grade 1 race like the Spinaway is a great thrill for any trainer. But for Rudy Rodriguez, Condo Commando’s 13 1/4-length triumph over a sloppy track here Sunday was doubly special, coming as it did in the last race ever called by legendary announcer Tom Durkin.
“Condo Commando was splashtastic!” were the final words of Durkin’s memorable career – words that Rodriguez said he and his family will savor forever.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Rafael Bejarano won six races at Del Mar on Sunday, becoming only the fifth rider to do so in track history.
Victor Espinoza holds the record with seven wins. Bill Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay Jr. (twice), and Rudy Rosales also won six in a day.
Bejarano went 6 for 8 on Sunday’s 11-race card after winning four races on Saturday. He heads into the final two days of the Del Mar meet with a commanding lead in the jockey standings.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Tom Durkin was given a wet and slightly wild send-off Sunday at Saratoga.
After calling Condo Commando’s 13 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Spinaway in the pouring rain “splash-tastic,” Durkin was feted with a retirement ceremony in the Saratoga winner’s circle that celebrated the 43-year career of the greatest race-caller in the history of racing. For the last 24 years, Durkin called the races for the New York Racing Association, which operates Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Blue Tone won the first stakes of his career in Saturday’s $98,650 Brubaker Stakes over a mile and could be back at Del Mar in November for a more lucrative prize.
Trainer Bob Hess Jr. said he hopes to run Blue Tone in the $200,000 Native Diver Handicap over 1 1/8 miles Nov. 29 during the track’s autumn meeting. The Grade 3 Native Diver previously was run at the now-closed Hollywood Park and was worth $150,500 in 2013.
