Fri, 10/04/2013 - 15:31

Mid-South notes: Dominguez mulling over where to run Wine Police

Dustin Orona Photography
Wine Police is under consideration for several upcoming races, including the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

The Breeders’ Cup Sprint is one of a handful of options the connections of Wine Police are mulling over following his win in last weekend’s $150,000 Remington Park Sprint Cup. Wine Police is back at his Zia Park base in Hobbs, N.M., with races in Louisiana, New York, and Pennsylvania also on his radar, trainer Henry Dominguez said Friday.

“The Breeders’ Cup is a consideration,” he said. “We have a lot of spots we can go to and haven’t made a definite decision. We’ll come up with a plan in the next week or so.”

Fri, 10/04/2013 - 14:24

Hastings notes: Perez takes aim at second straight riding title

Erin Palmer/Emerald Downs Photo
Amadeo Perez, seen aboard Longacres Mile winner Herbie D, is trying for his second straight riding title at Hastings.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It looks like Amadeo Perez is going to be the leading rider at Hastings for the second straight year when the meet ends Oct. 14, but he won’t be a runaway winner like last year.

In 2012, he won 95 races, 27 more than Fernando Perez, who finished a clear second. This year, the wins have been spread around a lot more, and Perez heads into the final two weekends of racing with 56 wins, just five more than Scott Williams. The difference between Perez and Richard Hamel, seventh in the standings, is just 13 wins.

Thu, 10/03/2013 - 17:26

Belmont Park pick-six carryover $485K into Friday

ELMONT, N.Y. - Another day, another pick-six carryover at Belmont Park.

For a third consecutive card, the pick six was not hit at Belmont Thursday, creating a carryover of $485,964 into Friday’s program.

There are 10 races on Friday’s card, so the pick six does not begin until race 5 (2:58 p.m. Eastern). Five of the six races in the sequence are scheduled for the turf. There is no rain in the forecast so the turf should be firm.

There was a carryover of $165,205 entering Thursday’s card and an additional $562,787 was wagered into the pool.

Thu, 10/03/2013 - 17:16

Belmont notes: McGaughey could run Orb again this year

ELMONT, N.Y. – Kentucky Derby winner Orb might not be finished running this year after all.

Orb, who has spent most of the past four months training at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland, has returned to Belmont Park, where on Wednesday he galloped over the main track. Orb finished last – without an apparent excuse – in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup here.

Trainer Shug McGaughey, who has sung the praises of Fair Hill all summer, said he wanted the horse at Belmont, where he could monitor his progress.

Thu, 10/03/2013 - 15:18

Hastings notes: Gryder enjoys stint in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Nobody really believed owner Glen Todd last winter when he was telling everyone that Aaron Gryder was going to be his first-call rider at the 2013 Hastings meet. Gryder had recently won the Breeders’ Cup Marathon aboard Calidoscopio and Hastings seemed like one of the last places a former leading rider at Aqueduct, Hollywood Park, Churchill Downs, Arlington Park, and Golden Gate would end up.

Thu, 10/03/2013 - 13:25

Keeneland: Juddmonte Spinster win would put Emollient in rare company

[bc_video_id:306523:]LEXINGTON, Ky. – Emollient will break from post 5 in a field of 11 fillies and mares Sunday in the Grade 1, $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes when she tries to become just the fourth horse in Keeneland history to sweep the Ashland and Spinster.

Thu, 10/03/2013 - 13:16

Woodbine: Brooks brothers seek first stakes win with Morant Bay in Mazarine

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Cary Brooks and owner Phil Brooks have a four-horse stable at Woodbine. On Saturday, the Brooks brothers will be looking for their first stakes win with their second stakes starter, Morant Bay, who will run in the Grade 3, $150,000 Mazarine, a 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-old fillies.

“We’re a great team,” said Cary Brooks, who at age 54 is Phil’s senior by two years. “We usually have four or five horses. We’d like more.”

Wed, 10/02/2013 - 17:40

Belmont Park: Pick-six carryover of $165,205 for Thursday

ELMONT, N.Y. – Upset victories by Vinny Goodtimes and As Well – combined with a late scratch of a race favorite – conspired to create a $165,205 pick-six carryover for Thursday’s card at Belmont Park.

The wager was not hit Sunday, so Wednesday’s card began with a $44,044 carryover.

Following a victory by second choice My Jimmy Chew Girl ($8.10) in the opening leg, Vinny Goodtimes ($22.80) stormed by 9-5 favorite Red Vine to upset the fifth race.

Wed, 10/02/2013 - 17:10

Belmont Park notes: Lukas confident in Strong Mandate ahead of Champagne Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – “Absolutely ecstatic.”

That’s how trainer D. Wayne Lukas said he was feeling Wednesday after Strong Mandate visited Belmont’s main track for the first time in preparation for Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes.

Strong Mandate, the 9 3/4-length winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga on Sept. 2, arrived at Belmont from Churchill on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he drew post 7 in a field of nine entered for the Champagne, a one-turn, one-mile race that offers a fees-paid berth to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Wed, 10/02/2013 - 16:49

Hawthorne opening weekend offers a night card

STICKNEY, Ill. – If everything really is relative, Hawthorne Race Course, barring the absolutely catastrophic, is in for at least a decent fall-winter race meet compared to last year.

Not long after it began, Hawthorne’s 2012 fall-winter season was overrun by a serious outbreak of the equine herpesvirus, known as EHV-1. The meet continued with the track under quarantine as the virus ran its course. Seven horses died, the meeting left in tatters.