SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A meet that doesn’t really need any more pomp and pageantry will have its cup runneth over this summer as Saratoga celebrates its 150th anniversary beginning Friday.
Unlike the first race meet in 1863, which lasted only four days and had a total of eight races, the 144th Saratoga season is set for 40 days through Labor Day and likely will consist of approximately 400 races.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Know More won the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes in his career debut at the 2012 Del Mar meeting. This year, any kind of win will do for the 3-year-old colt.
Winless in his last seven starts, Know More was scratched from the first division of Wednesday’s Oceanside Stakes in favor of an optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles on turf in Friday’s sixth race.
“The Oceanside is tough,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “I think we’ve found a softer spot, although Friday is not easy.”
DEL MAR, Calif. - Rail Trip will not be able to defend his title in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Diego Handicap on July 27 because of a foot bruise, according to his trainer, Ron Ellis.
[DEL MAR 2013: Complete meet coverage, schedule, race replays]
Wise Dan, the reigning Horse of the Year, arrived at Saratoga at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday after a van ride from Kentucky.
Charles LoPresti, the trainer of Wise Dan, said while he is leaning toward running the gelding in the Grade 2, $500,000 Fourstardave – a race Wise Dan won last year – LoPresti did not rule out running him in the Grade 1 Whitney on the dirt on Aug. 3.
“I’ll watch him this week and see how he trains. Maybe I’ll work him a half-mile on the dirt,” said LoPresti, who added that the ultimate decision on where to run will be made by owner Morton Fink.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Fly Lexis Fly, winner of two Group 1 races in Peru in 2011 but winless in six starts in this country, was supplemented for $3,000 on Wednesday to Saturday’s $300,000 Eddie Read Stakes.
Trained by Peter Miller for Licha Dona, Fly Lexis Fly was third in an allowance race at seven furlongs at Hollywood Park on June 14, finishing 10 3/4 lengths behind 2012 Grade 1 winner Paynter.
[DEL MAR 2013: Complete meet coverage, schedule, race replays]
The Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association has warned Calder Race Course that it will withdraw its consent for the track to import any simulcast signals on July 25 unless the track comes to an agreement with the organization on a purse contract for Calder’s ongoing summer meet, the horsemen’s association said.
AUBURN, Wash. – While she hasn’t won a race in nearly a year, Maggie’s Special looms the horse to beat Friday in the feature race at Emerald Downs. A $20,000 claimer for older fillies and mares at one mile, it’s the centerpiece of a seven-race card beginning at 6:45 p.m. Pacific.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The trainer Mike Maker has sent out at least a handful of starters during 2013 at a dozen racetracks minimum. At most venues, the Maker barn makes hay. During his stay at the Gulfstream Park meeting this winter, Maker won with 27 of 91 starters, a 29-percent strike rate. His concurrent string at Fair Grounds was equally strong, going 24-75. At the tough Keeneland meet this spring, Maker was 25-76, another 30-plus win percentage, and at Churchill Downs, his home track, he won with 35 of 112 runners.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Garrett Gomez took off his mounts on Wednesday’s opening day at Del Mar, a week after he resumed riding following a self-imposed month-long break to deal with what he described as marital problems.
Gomez, 41, was booked to ride five of the 10 races on Wednesday, including Examen and Olympic Blue in divisions of the Oceanside Stakes. Wednesday morning, Gomez’s agent, Tony Matos, told stewards that the jockey would not ride.
“We were contacted by his agent, but we don’t know the details,” steward Scott Chaney said.
Tell Me Lies and Canaveral Leader will renew acquaintances in Friday’s $50,000 Three and Four Year Old Fillies Sales Stakes at Northlands Park. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint drew five horses and features a rematch between the 3-year-old fillies Tell Me Lies and Canaveral Leader, who were lapped onto each other for the whole six furlongs in the $50,000 Chariot Chaser on June 15. Tell Me Lies began to edge away approaching the wire and won by three-quarters of a length.
