DEL MAR, Calif. – By the end of last year, Fury Kapcori had established himself as one of the circuit’s leading 2-year-olds, putting himself on the short list of potential Kentucky Derby prospects for 2013 with his second-place finish to Violence in the CashCall Futurity. But he suffered a knee injury this year that kept him out of the spring preps and knocked him off the Derby trail.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jason Tackitt needed advice.
A few years ago, as he began investing in Thoroughbred racing, Tackitt contacted Kosta Hronis, a fellow resident of Bakersfield, Calif., and racehorse owner, seeking to learn what to expect in the game. Hronis started out with a few horses, and has grown his stable to be the leading owner in Southern California this year.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer David Fawkes hitched up the horse trailer at his new summer headquarters on the backstretch at Gulfstream Park shortly before 9 a.m. on Tuesday and a few minutes later was on the road, his graded-stakes-winning sprinter Bahamian Squall in tow, with the next stop Saratoga Springs and a date Sunday in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap.
Trainer Randy Allen and owners Richard and Frances Hessee combined to sweep both divisions of the Strike Your Colors Stakes for 2-year-olds on Monday at Delaware Park.
Long On Value ($4.40), ridden for the first time by Daniel Centeno, remained unbeaten in three starts by cruising to a six-length victory in the $50,250 first division. He ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:03.29.
Barracuda Wayne ($48.20) rallied from fifth under Jose Caraballo to take the $50,125 second division by 1 ½ lengths over No Fruit Degroote. The winning time was 1:04.40.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Thursday’s $100,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase will have a familiar look as well as an international flavor when Jonathan Sheppard, the perennial king of the jump races at Saratoga, sends out three entrants, including the Irish-bred Hunt Ball in the Grade 1 fixture to be decided at 2 1/16 miles over hurdles.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Gary Sciacca counts himself as one of Saginaw’s biggest fans. On Thursday, however, Sciacca will have to put his pom-poms away when he sends out Saratoga Snacks against Saginaw in the 6 1/2-furlong, $100,000 John Morrissey Stakes for New York-breds at Saratoga.
Stewards at Fairmount Park are reportedly looking into a race last Tuesday at the southern Illinois track to determine if other riders in the race may have tried to allow 70-year-old R.A. “Cowboy” Jones to win the race. One steward, Patrick Bovenzi, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that their probe is “still in its investigatory stage.”
All-sources handle is up while ontrack business is down through the first quarter of the Saratoga meet, according to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form .
Through the first 10 days of the 40-day meet, all-sources handle is $146,904,102, up 2.8 percent compared to the 2012 figure of $142,857,233.
Ontrack handle is $27,320,792, down 5.6 percent from the $28,941,361 wagered over the corresponding 10 days in 2012.
Total attendance through the first 10 days is 193,235, down 5.1 percent from the 203,780 who came through the turnstiles in 2012.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse's four-horse contingent for Tuesday's $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes has been cut in half, as neither Dynamic Sky nor Spring in the Air made the trip from Woodbine to Fort Erie on Tuesday morning.
"Dynamic Sky had a little issue pop up yesterday – not a big one, but it was bad timing," Casse said. "Hopefully, he's already better today, but we're just going to give him a few days off and hopefully aim for the Breeders' [Stakes]. We're saving Spring in the Air for the Wonder Where [Stakes]."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - After reeling off three consecutive one-sided stakes victories, Dance to Bristol finally had to work for her money, overcoming a tough trip before gamely running down the pacesetting Classic Point to register a well-earned three-quarter-length decision in Monday’s $200,000 Honorable Miss at Saratoga.
Dance to Bristol, a bargain $42,000 purchase at 2, had won her last three starts by a combined 16 1/2 lengths, a string of stakes wins that included a 2 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 3 Bed O’ Roses Handicap last month at Belmont Park.
