Alternation will not defend his title in the May 17 Pimlico Special, as his connections have had to lighten up on his training. Alternation has been diagnosed with inflammation in his stifle region following his eighth-place finish in last month’s Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap and is jogging at Churchill Downs.
“He went to the clinic, and we did a bone scan,” said Donnie Von Hemel, who trains Alternation for Pin Oak Stable.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It took Take Charge Indy more than a year to get back to the winner’s circle, but he did so in spectacular fashion Friday at Churchill Downs with a dazzling, six-length victory against eight older rivals in the Grade 2, $339,900 Alysheba Stakes.
With Rosie Napravnik aboard, Take Charge Indy ($7.60) stalked the early pace of longshot Right to Vote through a moderate early pace, then turned on the jets and rocketed away en route to the one-sided victory in the 1 1/16-mile, main-track race. He was timed in 1:41.47 on the fast track.
A climate of uncertainty surrounds Sunday’s opening of the 2013 Assiniboia Downs meeting, with the racetrack in the midst of court action against the provincial government and the province having slashed the racetrack’s projected funding in its recent budget.
The Manitoba Jockey Club owns and operates Assiniboia Downs, which is on 130 acres within the grounds of Red River Exhibition Park, which is owned by the Red River Exhibition Association.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A foot bruise that knocked Teddy’s Promise out of the B. Thoughtful Stakes one week ago is history. California’s top female sprinter will return to action Sunday in the $70,000 Time To Leave Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.
Expectations for Teddy’s Promise in the five-furlong stakes are the same as they would have been April 27 in the B. Thoughtful.
“I just think she’s the best horse in the race,” trainer Ron Ellis said.
The benchmark for a time needed to qualify for the $281,000 Kindergarten Futurity at Los Alamitos on May 19 should be known fairly early Sunday, when eight 300-yard time trials are run.
Sunday’s third and fourth races, the second and third divisions of the trials, feature five maiden race winners over 300 yards in April, including a few of the most highly regarded runners seen so far this year.
In Sunday’s third race, the winners Diamonds N Dynasty, This Wagons Okay, and Glitter in My Face are part of a field of eight.
The picture in the 3-year-old division at Emerald Downs will begin to sort itself out Sunday when a pair of local stakes winners – Music of My Soul and Mike Man’s Gold – meet a couple of newcomers from Southern California, including the brief Kentucky Derby candidate Carving, in a $21,000 allowance race at six furlongs. First post for the 10-race card is 2 p.m. Pacific.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - So Many Ways returned to a sprint and returned to peak form in Friday's Grade 3, $177,170 Eight Belles on the Kentucky Oaks undercard.
A tired fifth in the 1 1/16-mile Fair Grounds Oaks in her last start March 30, So Many Ways was positioned in midpack early and fanned widest for the stretch run before using a powerful closing kick Friday to surge clear in the final 100 yards, edging Fusaichiswonderful by a half-length. She raced seven furlongs in 1:22.84 over a track that produced fast times and paid $17.40 to win.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Frank Irvin – the owner of Fear the Kitten, who was excluded from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby after initially being an also-eligible entrant – expressed dismay Friday at circumstances that prevented his horse from gaining entry in the Derby, even following the scratch of Black Onyx from the race late Friday morning.
ET O BICOKE, Ontario − Trainer Roger Attfield has found the going tough at Woodbine this year.
A perennial powerhouse here, the Attfield barn has lost a number of stakes winners in the last couple of years, with the males Musketier and Simmard being retired to stud last year and Perfect Shirl and Smart Sting joining a parade of Attfield stakes winners who became broodmares.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Troy Taylor and owner Glen Todd have won just about every important race in the Pacific Northwest, including the Grade 3 Longacres Mile, which they won last year with Taylor Said. But the one race they haven’t won is the Grade 3, $150,000 British Columbia Derby, scheduled for Sept. 8.
