Pay the Man has a good chance to return to her winning ways for trainer Miguel Feliciano when racing at her favorite distance over her favorite track Sunday.
The 9-year-old mare will face five other older Ohio-bred fillies and mares in the $50,000 J. William Petro Memorial Handicap at Thistledown. Pay the Man has won 17 of her 25 starts at Thistledown and is a perfect 6 for 6 lifetime at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Petro.
Lotta Lovin will be looking for her second win of the year in the $100,000 Windward Stakes on Sunday. The Windward, a one-mile race for fillies and mares over Presque Isle’s Tapeta surface, drew a field of 10.
Trained by Mike Maker, Lotta Lovin won her first start of the year in the $50,000 Likely Exchange at Turfway Park on Jan. 19. After some time off, the 4-year-old filly finished fifth in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland in April. Most recently she was third, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the 1 1/8-mile Arlington Matron on May 25.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Jockey Patrick Valenzuela said on Thursday that he hopes to return to riding this summer at Del Mar after an eight-month absence caused by knee problems.
Valenzuela said he plans to meet with a doctor on Friday, seeking clearance to resume exercising horses. He said he underwent surgery in March to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Friday proved to be an eventful day on the combative south Florida racing circuit. Gulfstream Park drew entries for Monday’s eight-race card, the first program of the track’s inaugural summer meeting, while at the same time Calder officials instituted a “restricted access policy” that prohibits horses stabled at its track from re-entering the grounds if they ship to race at Gulfstream.
AUBURN, Wash. – After medics restarted his heart, and surgeons implanted stents to save his life, Gallyn Mitchell wasted very little time trying to reinvigorate his riding career. Emerald Downs’s all-time leading rider was back on horses last week, galloping runners in the morning, and then climbed aboard the 3-year-old colt Forin Sea on Saturday afternoon and guided him to a third-place finish in an allowance race.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Little Mike is on target for the Grade 1, $500,000 United Nations Stakes, the premier turf event at Monmouth Park on July 6.
The upcoming holiday week on the Jersey Shore is loaded with stakes, with the U.N. the main attraction.
It starts with a holiday card on Thursday featuring the Grade 3, $100,000 Jersey Shore Stakes for 3-year-olds at six furlongs.
Stakes coordinator Dan Dufford lists Rainbow Heir, Hippster, Res Judicata, and Uptown Boy among the probable Jersey Shore runners.
AUBURN, Wash. – Rocky’s Quest, whose bid to join the stakes ranks ended with a resounding defeat in the Budweiser Handicap in his previous start, will return to his comfort zone Sunday when he headlines a second-level allowance/optional claimer for older horses at one mile. With no stakes race at Emerald Downs, it will serve as the featured eighth race on a nine-race card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific.
It’s not a New York Showcase Day, but it will feel like one on a Sunday program at Belmont Park that is sprinkled with six statebred races, including three $100,000 stakes to be contested at seven furlongs.
Heading the stakes tripleheader is the Shy Groom, an overnight event that marks the seasonal debut of Saratoga Snacks, whose only loss in five starts last year was a runner-up finish in the Empire Classic.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer John Snow is looking for a good effort from Daydream and Havasu Falls in the $50,000 Supernaturel Handicap at Hastings on Monday. The 1 1/16-mile Supernaturel is one of four stakes on the 10-race Canada Day card.
