Late Saturday afternoon at Lone Star Park, Randy Mayfield was high-fiving jockey Alfredo Sigala in the winner’s circle, celebrating the performance of Delmersmiracle, a filly he trained to an apparent first-out victory at 25-1 odds for owner/breeder Don Milligan in the day’s last race.
Although track stewards had begun an inquiry into the race due to a number of horses breaking poorly, Mayfield said he “was counting my money” after wagering $200 on her.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The pick six would be less difficult Thursday at Santa Anita if the best race included at least one front-runner.
Unfortunately, pick-six bettors taking aim at the $85,262 carryover will look at race 6, an entry-level turf allowance for 3-year-old fillies, and ask the same question posed early this week to trainer Jim Cassidy – who makes the lead?
Overnight purses for the upcoming spring-summer meeting at Betfair Hollywood Park have been reduced for some cheaper divisions, but remain unchanged for higher-class races such as maiden special weight and allowance races compared to the 2012 meeting.
The purses for $20,000 maiden-claiming races, starter allowance races for nonwinners of two, and for claiming horses worth $8,000 to $25,000 have been cut by an average of $1,000 from last year.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The San Juan Capistrano Handicap will have a new winner this year.
Tuesday, trainer Neil Drysdale said that Bourbon Bay, winner of the San Juan Capistrano in 2010 and 2012, will skip Sunday’s race at Santa Anita.
Drysdale plans to start Fire With Fire, who was third in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes over 1 1/2 miles on turf March 16.
“He ran well the other day and he should love the distance,” Drysdale said.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The winner of the Coolmore Lexington Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland will earn 20 “wild card” points toward eligibility for the May 4 Kentucky Derby, which at this juncture looks like enough points to crack the 20-horse lineup.
Tom Proctor, who will send out Examen in the Lexington, doesn’t much care.
“I don’t need anybody or any points to tell me whether I have a Derby horse or not,” Proctor said with his usual candor. “He’s not even nominated.”
A quartet of Florida shippers will attract the bulk of the action in Thursday’s featured seventh race, an optional claimer with first-level allowance conditions scheduled for turf at 1 1/16 miles.
Kibosh enters off a rallying, runner-up finish with a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 86 for trainer John Kimmel, and the New York-bred filly may go off as a lukewarm favorite over fellow shippers Divine Luck, Riolama, and South Shore.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Last fall, Watsdachances finished ahead of all but one other horse in the defining race in her niche, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. So when the Irish-bred filly makes her 3-year-old debut Thursday in the Grade 3 Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland, it will be with lofty expectations indeed for a big 2013.
AUBURN, Wash. – After an unusually quiet winter for horse racing in the Pacific Northwest, Emerald Downs will begin its 2013 season Friday with a twilight card beginning at 6:45 p.m. Pacific.
A $25,000 claiming sprint for older horses will serve as the feature race, and Emerald Downs’s fan-friendly marketing team will send 30 opening-night patrons home with a free iPad.
If a $17,799 pick-six carryover doesn’t fire up Golden Gate Fields fans, how about a $149,941 pick-five carryover going into Thursday’s races?
The 50-cent bet, picking the winners of the final five races on the card, should attract plenty of wagering interest.
In the last leg of the wager, a $12,500 maiden claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs, fans may want to give a long look at first-timer Some Kind of Ride, trained by Aggie Ordonez.
Ordonez saddled her sixth winner from her past 10 starters dating back to March 7 when Mary’s Ap won the sixth race Sunday.
