ELMONT, N.Y. – After experiencing a giant failure in the Belmont Stakes five years ago, owner Andy Cohen is hoping for a Giant Finish to this year’s Triple Crown.
In 2008, Cohen was a minority owner of Big Brown, who after decisive victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, was the 1-5 favorite to win the Belmont and become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Always in a Tiz, who likely would have been the longest shot in the field, will skip Saturday’s $1 million Belmont Stakes and instead run in the $150,000 Easy Goer Stakes on the day’s undercard, said Anthony Bonomo Jr., racing manager for his parents’ stables.
Always in a Tiz, a son of Tiznow, won his debut at Saratoga last summer but has lost five consecutive races since, most recently finishing ninth in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 6.
Baze, the runaway leader in the Golden Gate jockey race, is now only 39 wins away from the 12,000 mark after picking up eight wins in three days last weekend.
Baze has recorded 157 victories through 93 days (1.69 wins per day) at the Golden Gate Fields meeting and is on pace to reach the 12,000 milestone at the Sacramento fair meeting, which starts July 12. Eight days remain at the Golden Gate meeting, which ends June 16. The fair season begins at Pleasanton with 12 days of racing that start June 20 and then eight at Sacramento.
Unusual Way may have been making her turf debut in last weekend’s Campanile, but no one was surprised that she went off the 4-5 favorite. And she made the price look generous with a dominating 2 1/4-length victory in the one-mile race for 3-year-old California-bred fillies.
“I really liked the way she relaxed,” said trainer Jeff Bonde after the filly’s third stakes victory and fourth win in 10 starts to go with three seconds and a third.
Next on Unusual Way’s agenda is the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 17 at 1 1/8 miles.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The pattern is remarkably similar.
Last spring, the lightly raced My Gi Gi finished second in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park in early May and followed with a career-defining win in the Grade 2 Honeymoon Handicap for 3-year-old fillies over 1 1/8 miles on turf in early June.
Fast forward to this year, and trainer Peter Eurton is using the same races with Kyriaki, who has made four starts. Owned by Dominic Savides, Kyriaki was third in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes on May 11, a prep for Saturday’s $150,000 Honeymoon Handicap.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Joel Rosario, North America’s top jockey in earnings this year, will return to Churchill Downs for the first time since his Kentucky Derby victory to ride in all four graded stakes on the June 15 Stephen Foster Handicap program.
Rosario, who will ride Golden Ticket in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster, also has committed to Funny Proposition in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap, Sunbean in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes, and Kitten’s Dumplings in the Grade 3 Regret Stakes, according to his agent, Ron Anderson.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – It is a reasonable question referring to last-start maiden winners – whom did they beat?
It turns out Biorhythm beat a good field last month at Keeneland – runner-up Distortion returned to win a special-weight at Belmont; third-place Sky Girl returned to win twice at Churchill Downs, including an allowance. Three others finished in the money next out.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Saving the best for last is a concept rarely employed by racing secretaries, given that the last race of any given program typically is not of very high quality.
But an exception to that rule arises Thursday at Churchill Downs, where the last race happens to be the best one on a nine-race program. It’s a $54,000, second-level turf sprint that drew a terrific field of 10 older horses, most of them with stakes experience.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Jeter is back in the lineup Thursday!
No, not New York Yankees’ star shortstop Derek Jeter, but rather the Thoroughbred version, who will be in action for the first time since November for new trainer Kelly Breen in Thursday’s seventh race at Belmont Park.
Like his namesake, Jeter has been something of a fan favorite. He went to the post as the public’s choice six times for former trainer Richard Dutrow Jr., beginning with a lengthy maiden triumph last year off a layoff of nearly six months.
Suffolk Downs has begun withholding 5 percent of the winnings on any bet generating a net payout of greater than $600 in order to comply with an order by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, according to track officials.
Suffolk, which opened on June 1, was notified on May 20 about the requirement to withhold the money, according to a memo from the Department of Revenue provided by Suffolk. The memo said that a change to tax laws regarding gambling winnings passed by the Massachusetts legislature in 2011 required the withholding as of the start of 2013.
