Sat, 04/20/2013 - 15:50

Hollywood Park: Champ Pegasus might return in Charles Whittingham Handicap

Benoit & Associates
Champ Pegasus, idle since a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship in October 2011, might return in the Charles Whittingham Handicap on June 8.

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella is preparing the major stakes winners Champ Pegasus and Indy Point for stakes at Hollywood Park.

Champ Pegasus, unraced since a second in the Grade 2 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship in October 2011 at Santa Anita, is a candidate for the $200,000 Charles Whittingham Handicap over 1 1/4 miles on turf June 8.

Champ Pegasus, 7, won the 2010 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship when the race was a Grade 1 and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs that year. Champ Pegasus was sidelined by a series of injuries in 2012.

Sat, 04/20/2013 - 14:40

Will Rogers Downs: Clem McFadden Memorial Route 66 attracts sharp field

Practically the entire field of seven older sprinters in Tuesday’s $50,000 Clem McFadden Memorial Route 66 Stakes at Will Rogers Downs is coming back quickly from a good performance.

Five horses who were either first or second within the past three weeks are wheeling back for the six-furlong open stakes, including recent restricted stakes winner Johnny Whip and old-timer Humble Smarty, a 17-time winner who returns to his best distance following a strong effort in a two-turn stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Sat, 04/20/2013 - 14:12

Hollywood Park: Warren's Amber targets B. Thoughtful Stakes

Benoit & Associates
Warren’s Amber likely will make her 2013 debut in the $125,000 B. Thoughtful Stakes on Saturday at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Warren’s Amber, the winner of the Evening Jewel Stakes at Santa Anita in 2012, has had five workouts in recent weeks, preparing for an expected 2013 debut in the $125,000 B. Thoughtful Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park on Saturday.

For some trainers, five workouts would not be enough to have a 4-year-old filly ready for the B. Thoughtful, which is run over 7 1/2 furlongs for California-bred fillies and mares. But trainer Jorge Gutierrez thinks Warren’s Amber has gained enough from the workouts, and he is willing to try the race with the filly, owned and bred by Ben Warren.

Sat, 04/20/2013 - 13:57

Parx: Patrick S, Energetico meet older horses Monday

A pair of Pennsylvania-breds who dominated fellow 3-year-old statebreds will attempt to beat older horses and open company in Monday’s $47,000 feature at Parx Racing.

Patrick S, a six-length winner at Penn National 2 1/2 weeks ago, and Energetico, who beat Patrick S by 3 1/4 lengths in early March, look like the prime contenders in a first-level allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs on the main track.

Sat, 04/20/2013 - 13:36

Indiana Downs meet opens under Centaur Gaming

Indiana Downs opens under the banner of Centaur Gaming for the first time Tuesday and will conduct a 120-day Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meet. Centaur also owns Hoosier Park in Anderson, Ind., and received permission from the Indiana Racing Commission to run Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse races at Indiana Downs and to conduct Standardbred racing at Hoosier Park.

Fri, 04/19/2013 - 20:03

Santa Anita pick six hit for more than $1 million

ARCADIA, Calif. - There was one winning ticket at Santa Anita in Friday’s pick six, worth $1,093,518, on a day when no winning favorites reached the winner’s circle in those races.

Track officials said the winning ticket was purchased through the Xpressbet.com account wagering service.

The winners of Friday’s pick six races were Cook Inlet ($7.40), Lord Kitra ($14.80), Summers Dignity ($44.80), Legal Separation ($32.80), Peppy Bolly ($9) and Copper Bay ($7.40).

Fri, 04/19/2013 - 18:44

Keeneland: Ramseys tie victory record

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Ken and Sarah Ramsey tied the record for most wins by an owner at a Keeneland meet, either spring or fall, when Friday victories from Hollywood Talent in race 5 and Animal Style in race 7 pushed their meet-leading tally to 12 victories.

They had a chance in the featured Doubledogdare to get the outright record, but their runners, Sisterhood and Artemus Kitten, ran second and third, respectively.

Fri, 04/19/2013 - 18:40

Keeneland: Ice Cream Silence wins Doubledogdare

Keeneland/Coady Photography
For Ice Cream Silence (right), a 4-year-old daughter of Street Sense, the Doubledogdare was her first graded stakes victory.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Taking command after an alert start, Ice Cream Silence led virtually throughout to win Friday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Doubledogdare by a neck over Sisterhood before a crowd of 11,897 at Keeneland.

The race was largely won in the early stages of the 1 1/16-mile race, with Ice Cream Silence under Rosie Napravnik slowing the pace with fractions of 24.43 seconds and 49.20 for the opening half-mile while under only mild pressure from Sisterhood.

Fri, 04/19/2013 - 17:19

Paynter, Haskell winner, works for return

Barbara D. Livingston
Paynter had his training interrupted by foot trouble.

Paynter, who was seriously ill last fall with colitis and laminitis, moved closer to a comeback with a three-furlong workout in 36.20 seconds at Hollywood Park on Friday.

Paynter, 4, had not worked since March 29 at Santa Anita, a break that trainer Bob Baffert said was caused by tender feet. Baffert has not picked a comeback race for Paynter, who is owned by Zayat Stables.

A winner of 3 of 6 starts and $952,224, Paynter is best known for winning the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park last August and finishing second in the Belmont Stakes.

Fri, 04/19/2013 - 16:35

Emerald Downs: You Me and Ema B raring to go off layoff

Coady Photography
E Z Kitty won the Sun City impressively last out (above), but she'll have to be at her best to beat Jaws n’ Paws in the Mesa.

AUBURN, Wash. – You Me and Ema B is a friend of the people. She won her career debut by more than four lengths and returned $21.80 for a $2 win bet. She went gate to wire in her first stakes appearance and paid $23.20. And in her first attempt around two turns, in the Boeing Handicap in July 2011, she won by daylight and paid $16.