INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Jockey Tyler Baze was removed from his mounts at Betfair Hollywood Park on Thursday for violating the terms of his contract with the California Horse Racing Board pertaining to substance abuse testing, stewards said.
Baze, who missed more than a year of riding from August 2011 to October 2012 because of problems with alcoholism, met with track stewards Scott Chaney, Kim Sawyer and Tom Ward at lunchtime on Thursday after working horses earlier in the day.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Illinois breeding program has stagnated in the last decade, and there has been a decline in the quality of runners in many Illinois-bred stakes over the past couple of years. But a pair of emerging 4-year-olds, The Pizza Man and Coalport, are adding depth to the Illinois turf-stakes division, and the nine-horse field for Saturday’s $100,000 Black Tie Affair Handicap makes it the best-looking Illinois-bred grass stakes in recent memory.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A muddled cast of fillies and mares race for a $250,000 purse on Saturday at Betfair Hollywood Park, where the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap offers a chance at redemption for two key starters.
More Chocolate and Lady of Fifty are among the favorites in the 1 1/8-mile Vanity, even though both enter off disappointing efforts.
More Chocolate completely misfired six weeks ago at Churchill Downs. She finished fifth of seven in the Grade 2 La Troienne. The lackadaisical effort still puzzles trainer John Sadler.
ELMONT, N.Y. – After a failed experiment on dirt in the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes, Infinite Magic will return to turf in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park.
In the absence of 3-year-old male-turf-division leader Rydilluc, a dozen were entered in the Hill Prince, restricted to 3-year-olds and scheduled for one mile on the Widener turf.
Infinite Magic will be making his first start for trainer Rick Mettee, who last month took over as the private trainer for Team Valor International.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Jewel of a Cat should benefit from a cutback in distance and a return to turf Saturday in the $60,000 Crank It Up Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Monmouth Park.
The 5 1/2-furlong race drew a competitive field of 10.
Jewel of a Cat stretched out to six furlongs for the Miss Preakness Stakes on the Black-Eyed Susan undercard. She got knocked around at the start and was unable to establish her preferred stalking position. Third at the top of the stretch, Jewel of a Cat finished fifth behind 9-10 winner I’m Mom’s Favorite.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Northern Passion has returned from a 10-month layoff to finish close in two graded stakes for fillies and mares here this spring, finishing fourth in the six-furlong Whimsical on the Polytrack and third in the Nassau at a mile on turf.
On Saturday, Northern Passion will be dropping in class to face Ontario-breds in the $125,000 Zadracarta Stakes and looms as the one to beat in the seven-furlong turf race for fillies and mares.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The last time My Happy Face ran a one-mile race at Belmont Park, she was part of a stirring stretch duel that she ultimately lost to Dreaming of Julia by a head in the Grade 1 Frizette last fall.
Thursday, in the one-mile Lotka Stakes, My Happy Face had to work hard to get by the pacesetting Girl Code, but once she did, My Happy Face edged clear for a 2 1/2-length victory that likely will set her up for a return to Grade 1 company in next month’s Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.
A leading trainer at Indiana Downs in Shelbyville, Ind., has been suspended 90 days after four of his horses tested positive last year for carbazochrome, an anti-hemorrhaging drug that is often administered to horses under the belief that it can reduce bleeding in the lungs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mike Maker-trained horses owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey have seemed nearly unstoppable everywhere from Kentucky to New York this spring. And Saturday night in the Grade 3 Regret Stakes in the race following the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, fans can expect more of the same.
Kitten’s Dumplings, a 3 3/4-length winner of the Edgewood Stakes over the Churchill Downs turf course May 3, looks poised to rally past the opposition under Joel Rosario in the 1 1/8-mile turf race.
Santa Anita is planning renovations to its turf club, grandstand and stable area during the second half of the summer, track president George Haines said on Thursday.
The renovations will be conducted concurrent with the Del Mar race meeting, from July 17 to Sept. 4. Areas of the turf club will be refurbished and expanded, and the Chandelier room in the interior of the turf club will be remodeled. The track will be closed while the work is being conducted.
“The whole turf club will be renovated,” Haines said.
