Fri, 05/31/2013 - 17:50

Arapahoe Park: Streakin' Mohican a swift one

It takes a quick Thoroughbred to beat Quarter Horses at 870 yards, and in doing so last out, Streakin' Mohican has established himself as the one to catch Sunday in the $40,000 Arapahoe Park Sprint. He will face 10 others in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up, including multiple stakes winners Hezamazing and Wally Van.

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 17:44

Beulah Park: Silver Tongued out for second win

Silver Tongued will be looking for his second lifetime win when he faces a field of 12 other Ohio-bred 3-year-old colts and geldings in the $50,000 Green Carpet at Beulah Park on Sunday.

Trained by Jeff Greenhill, Silver Tongued won his maiden race in the $75,000 Best of Ohio J.W. Galbreath at Thistledown last October. He was named Ohio's 2-year-old colt of the year off that 1 1/16-mile performance.

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 17:17

Belmont: Disposablepleasure's career in jeopardy after injury sustained in Phipps

The multiple graded stakes winner Disposablepleasure exited her fourth-place finish in Monday’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Handicap with a fracture of the cannon bone of her left foreleg, her owner, John Greathouse, said Friday. She also has a villonodular mass – an inflammation of a membrane – in the fetlock joint, Greathouse said.

Disposablepleasure will be given time to recuperate at Greathouse’s Glencrest Farm in Kentucky before being re-evaluated in 60 to 90 days to see if a return next year is possible.

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 17:08

Louisiana Downs, Evangeline Downs riders doing well after spills

There were four riders involved in two frightening spills in Louisiana on Thursday, and all avoided serious injuries. The first incident happened at Louisiana Downs, when jockeys John Jacinto, Rudy Guerra, and Don Simington were thrown in a chain-reaction spill in the sixth race. Jacinto and Guerra were taken to Willis-Knighton Hospital in Shreveport, and Jacinto was found to have a broken left forearm, according to his agent, Richie Price.

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 17:01

Emerald Downs: Cassie Papineau giving riding another go-round

AUBURN, Wash. – Cassie Papineau was the toast of Emerald Downs back in 2009, a record-setting apprentice with a winning personality and a bright future. These days, she’s just another journeyman rider trying to land a big horse to reinvigorate her career.

But time is on her side. Papineau, who began the week with six wins from 37 mounts, is just 25 years old.

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 17:00

Belmont Stakes: Stevens wants to get reacquainted with tricky track

Barbara D. Livingston
Gary Stevens, winning the Preakness aboard Oxbow, says Belmont Park is a tricky place to ride because of its configuration.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though his three Belmont Stakes victories tie him for third most of any jockey, Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens isn’t taking anything for granted when it comes to the third leg of the Triple Crown.

Having not ridden at Belmont Park since 2005, Stevens – who rides Preakness winner Oxbow in Saturday’s 145th Belmont Stakes – said he is coming to New York early to reacquaint himself with the 1 1/2-mile oval, the largest racetrack in North America.

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 16:29

Hollywood Park: Affirmed requires leap of faith

Shigeki Kikkawa
Den's Legacy may be sitting on a big race coming into Saturday's Arkansas Derby.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – If the key players in the Grade 3 Affirmed Handicap Sunday at Betfair Hollywood Park all reproduce their last effort, the race will be easy to predict.

It won’t be.

Manando, Broadway Empire, and Den’s Legacy race for a $100,000 purse in the mile and a sixteenth Affirmed, and fluctuating form cycles complicate analysis.

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 15:59

Belmont Stakes: Sunday workouts will set the stage

Barbara D. Livingston
Palace Malice, with seven starts in his career, is still eligible for a first-level allowance race.

A pivotal morning looms at Belmont Park on Sunday, as several leading contenders for the 145th Belmont Stakes next Saturday, including Kentucky Derby winner Orb and all of trainer Todd Pletcher’s prospective runners, are scheduled for their final workouts.

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 15:44

Hollywood Park: Chief Havoc, Joelito bound for stakes

Tom Keyser
Chief Havoc, here after running sixth in the Champagne Stakes last year, is headed to the Swaps after winning a Thursday allowance.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - After winning Thursday, the 3-year-olds Chief Havoc and Joelito are candidates for stakes before the end of the Betfair Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting.

Chief Havoc will be pointed to the meeting’s top race for 3-year-olds, the $150,000 Swaps Stakes on July 4, after winning an allowance race over 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic main track in Thursday’s seventh race. The Swaps is run over 1 1/8 miles.

Trainer Peter Miller was barely out of the winner’s circle when he looked at Tony Matos, the agent for winning rider Garrett Gomez, and said, “Swaps.”

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 15:36

Hollywood Park: Silentio resting till Del Mar

Benoit & Associates
Silentio won his stakes debut in the Grade 2 Sir Beaufort Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Silentio, who won the Grade 2 Sir Beaufort Stakes at Santa Anita in December, will not start in the $300,000 Shoemaker Mile on June 29 and will be pointed to the Del Mar meeting this summer, trainer Gary Mandella said.

Silentio was fifth behind 2012 Horse of the Year Wise Dan in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland in April and has not had a workout since that race.

“He deserves a little break,” Mandella said earlier this week.