Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., will be home to one of the richest turf-sprint stakes in North America this summer. The track on Wednesday announced the creation of the $300,000 Evangeline Downs Turf Sprint, a five-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up to be run June 21.
Evangeline is in its second season under the ownership of Boyd Gaming, which also operates Delta Downs in Vinton, La. Evangeline opens its Thoroughbred meet in April.
Del Mar plans to install a dirt track for its 2015 summer season, replacing the existing synthetic surface, track president Joe Harper said Tuesday.
Harper cautioned that the move to a dirt track was contingent on finding the “right material” and gaining the necessary permits, including approval from the California Coastal Commission.
“I hope it happens,” he said. “I think that’s our plan. It’s one step at a time with making sure we get the right permits.
“It’s a matter of finding the right surface. It’s a long list to check off before we can say it.”
For 16 seasons jockey Gerard Melancon was a Fair Grounds regular, winning races at a steady clip. But in 2007 Melancon moved his tack to Delta Downs in Vinton, La., for the winter. The money at Delta had gotten just about as good as at Fair Grounds, and Melancon every season ranks among the leading riders. Unlike when he rode in New Orleans, Melancon can make it home to the town of Scott in less than an hour after his work is done.
“I got a 10-acre farm, six broodmares,” he said. “I’m content. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”
“Todd Pletcher” is the name you see in the headline, but the names of Pletcher’s pair of 3-year-olds scheduled to start Saturday at Fair Grounds – Intense Holiday in the Risen Star and Got Lucky in the Rachel Alexandra – don’t appear to be written in large, bold letters.
Intense Holiday has won only 1 of 6 starts, and has been sent on the road this week while the highly regarded Pletcher-trained 3-year-old Commissioner stays home for the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Tapiture’s win in the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest at Oaklawn Park on Monday was meaningful for more than one reason, said his trainer, Steve Asmussen. Not only was Asmussen pleased to see the promising 3-year-old win his seasonal debut following some impressive works, but he was also thrilled for owner Winchell Thoroughbreds, which has long sent horses to receive their earliest training lessons at the El Primero Training Center operated by Asmussen’s parents, Keith and Marilyn.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Pontchatrain may be bound for Keeneland this spring after winning her fourth consecutive stakes in Monday’s $201,250 Buena Vista Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita.
She is already a history-making filly for Glen Hill Farm.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a horse win four straight stakes,” Glen Hill president Craig Bernick said after the Buena Vista. “We’ve been doing this for 47 or 48 years.”
Bernick is the grandson of Leonard Lavin, who founded Glen Hill Farm in 1966.
Kentucky Derby Fever long has infected horsepeople with talented 3-year-olds, and now the malady has mutated, spinning off a similar affliction: Kentucky Derby Qualifying Points Fever.
A massive total of 16 horses passed the entry box Monday for Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes, which awards Derby qualifying points to its first four finishers on a 50-20-10-5 basis. The main body of the field is 14-strong, with two longshots – the race’s lowest earners – on the also-eligible list.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A year ago, trainer Shug McGaughey won the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes from the rail with Orb. On Saturday, the Hall of Fame horseman will defend that title from the other end of the post-position spectrum after his Top Billing drew post 12 in a bulky field of 13 3-year-olds entered Monday for the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Will Take Charge, the champion 3-year-old male of 2013, will make his next start in the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 8, trainer D. Wayne Lukas told Santa Anita officials Monday.
“We’re coming,” Lukas said.
The Grade 1 Big Cap is run at 1 1/4 miles on dirt. The presence of Will Take Charge will give the race a rematch of the first two finishers of the Breeders’ Cup Classic here in November. Last Saturday, trainer Kathy Ritvo said that BC Classic winner Mucho Macho Man will be sent from Florida to California later this month for the Big Cap.
