Thu, 06/27/2013 - 20:12

Hollywood Park pick six pays $3,997 as favorites prevail

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - On a day with one double-digit payoff among the winners, the pick six paid $3,997.20 at Betfair Hollywood Park on Thursday.

Interest in Thursday’s pick six was heightened by a carryover of $94,863 from last Sunday. Bettors added $658,615 to the pool on Thursday. There were 112 winning tickets. Consolation tickets with five winners were worth $67.

The winners of the pick six races, the third through eighth races, were Full’s Figurehead ($3.40), Cacau ($4.40), Rock This Way ($7.20), Woebegon ($10.20), Uno Dos Adios ($9), and Wise Boss ($5.40).

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 17:29

Arapahoe Park: Busta Twist to be favored in CTBA Derby

Busta Twist will be tested at two turns for the first time Saturday at Arapahoe Park, and he gets pedigree support for the 1 1/16-mile distance of the $35,000 Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Association Derby. Busta Twist also is in sharp form, and as a result, he should start as a strong favorite in the five-horse field restricted to 3-year-olds bred in Colorado.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 17:25

Charles Town: In the Fairway looks formidable in Coin Collector Stakes

Mike Montgomery
In the Fairway, a three-time stakes winner as a juvenile last year, earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for an allowance win last out.

In the Fairway, who soared to a 95 Beyer Speed Figure while crushing open-company allowance foes two weeks ago, will be an overwhelming favorite when he returns to the West Virginia-bred ranks and shortens up to 4 1/2 furlongs in the $50,000 Coin Collector Stakes for 3-year-olds at Charles Town.

A three-time stakes winner as a 2-year-old last season, In the Fairway has won his last two starts, both going 6 1/2 furlongs, by a combined 15 lengths. His two most recent Beyers, 95 and 77, are far better than any recent number recorded by his four rivals in the Coin Collector.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 17:14

Finger Lakes: Tequila Hero shortens up in Ontario County Stakes

Tom Cooley Photography
Tequila Hero will shorten up from one mile and 40 yards to six furlongs for Saturday's Ontario County Stakes.

Based on what Tequila Hero has done in his first three starts this season, collecting two wins and a second, he sure looks like a better horse going two turns than he did as a late-closing sprinter in 2012.

Despite his success going long, Tequila Hero will be asked to shorten up to six furlongs for Saturday’s $50,000 Ontario County Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 17:08

Colonial Downs: Sensible Lady goes for repeat in Buckland

Female turf-sprint specialists Sensible Lady and Nisteltoe, who have collected six wins apiece over the past two seasons, will clash for the first time in Saturday’s $75,000 Buckland Stakes at Colonial Downs.

The 5 1/2-furlong Buckland drew a field of 12 fillies and mares, led by 124-pound co-highweight Sensible Lady, who won last year’s running by 1 1/4 lengths as the 8-5 favorite.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 16:50

Belmont Park: Dream Peace hoping for soft turf in New York Stakes

Barbara D. Livingston
Dream Peace, a Group 2 winner in France, has placed in all four of her graded stakes races in North America.

Take the 1-2-3-5-8 finishers from last month’s Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay, throw in three new players, and that’s your lineup for Saturday’s $200,000 New York Stakes for fillies and mares.

The Grade 2 New York, scheduled for 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf, is the eighth of 11 races and kicks off a $300,000-guaranteed late pick four. Post time is 4:45 p.m. Eastern.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 16:45

Churchill Downs: Ramseys set record for victories at a meet

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ken and Sarah Ramsey set another record at a Kentucky track when The Sixties won the fifth race Thursday at Churchill Downs under their familiar red and white silks, breaking the former mark set nearly 30 years ago during a much longer meet.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 16:41

Emerald Downs: Harwood to run first-time starters Del Rio Harbor, Kenai King on Saturday

AUBURN, Wash. – While there is no stakes race this weekend at Emerald Downs, a band of potential stakes-caliber horses will be on display Saturday in the day’s fourth race, a 4 1/2-furlong dash for 2-year-old maidens. Harbor the Gold, the Northwest’s leading stallion, will be represented by four of the eight entrants, and the field includes the siblings of three recent Emerald Downs stakes winners.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 16:32

Del Mar's Torrey Pines best summer option for Beholder

Barbara D. Livingston
Beholder (right), second in the Kentucky Oaks, will not ship to Saratoga for the Test in August, a plan trainer Richard Mandella had been considering.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Beholder, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2012, has resumed training after a second-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 3 and will make her next start at Del Mar this summer.

Trainer Richard Mandella said Thursday that Beholder is being pointed to the $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over a mile on the synthetic main track Sept. 1. Mandella said he had considered sending Beholder to Saratoga for a race such as the $500,000 Test Stakes on Aug. 24, but is leaning against that plan.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 16:32

Arlington Park: Aubby K prepping in Chicago Handicap

Barbara D. Livingston
Aubby K (second from right) wins the Humana Distaff.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Not to belittle the Chicago Handicap, but Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 race at Arlington Park merely is a means to an end for morning-line favorite Aubby K. Aubby K won the Grade 1 Humana Distaff on Kentucky Derby Day in her most recent start, and her connections have their eye on the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes on Aug. 23 at Saratoga.