FORT ERIE, Ontario – Apprentice jockey Mallory Strandberg began her riding career only a few months ago, following a two-year training stint at the North American Riding Academy in Lexington, Ky., under the stewardship of Hall of Fame rider Chris McCarron.
The 23-year-old Strandberg has been very busy since her graduation, competing at nine different racetracks in the span of five months, credits McCarron for her enthusiasm.
Former jockey Raul Cespedes died of cancer Monday at his home in Fontana, Calif. He was 67.
A native of Santiago, Chile, Cespedes rode in his homeland as well as Panama and Mexico before coming to California in 1967, riding there until his retirement in 1982.
Cespedes won the 1969 San Francisco Mile with Wingover, the 1975 Albany Handicap with Pelegrin Sands and 1979 California Oaks with Whydidju, all at Golden Gate Fields.
Following his riding career, Cespedes served as a jockey agent.
Trainer Chad Brown is hopeful that his two-time graded-stakes-placed filly Wave Theory can get back on the winning track in Saturday’s $100,000 My Princess Jess overnight stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
Grade 1 winner Data Link, most recently fourth as the favorite in the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont on July 4, will be sidelined indefinitely due to an ankle injury, trainer Shug McGaughey said Thursday.
McGaughey was hoping to run Data Link, the winner of the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile in 2012, in the Grade 2 Fourstardave Handicap here next month.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Michael Dilger, the pupil, will take on his former boss, Todd Pletcher, the teacher, when he sends out his undefeated New York-bred 2-year-old Wired Bryan in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sanford Stakes.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Swaps Stakes winner Chief Havoc will start in the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on July 27, a possible prep for the $1 million Travers Stakes there on Aug. 24.
Trainer Peter Miller said the Jim Dandy will determine whether Chief Havoc handles the journey to Saratoga. If Chief Havoc does not ship or run well, the Pacific Classic could be an option.
AUBURN, Wash. – Taylors Deal, a stakes winner in Arizona and British Columbia in 2012, will return from a long layoff to make his Emerald Downs debut in Saturday’s seventh race, one of three optional-claiming races on a 10-race card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific.
Wicked Courage will be looking to win his ninth straight race Saturday in the Grade 1, $1,055,000 Rainbow Quarter Horse Derby at Ruidoso Downs, and he could not have a better jockey for the task. Cody Jensen knows win streaks. He was the regular rider of Snowbound Superstar, the Quarter Horse who won 15 consecutive races between 2006 through 2009.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – My Happy Face has three wins and three seconds in her career. Each loss has come to a filly trained by Todd Pletcher.
When My Happy Face returns to Grade 1 competition in the $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga on Saturday, there will be not one, but two Pletcher-trained fillies standing in her way.
