VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It has been tough sledding the past couple of years at Hastings, which is operated by Great Canadian Gaming Corp.
A large portion of the purse money in British Columbia comes from slots at Hastings and Elements Casino, the Standardbred track also operated by Great Canadian. When COVID-19 hit, both casinos were shut down, and it wasn’t until recently that they reopened.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The 162nd running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate is just one week away on Aug. 22, and a large field is expected for the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, even with Weyburn skipping the race for other opportunities in the United States.
Heading into the final weekend of works for the contenders, a full gate of 17 horses is possible for the Queen’s Plate. If more than 17 horses enter the Queen’s Plate, horses with the highest career earnings will be given preference.
While it did not quite match the two feats for which he is most famous, Michael Dickinson had a perfect day Tuesday at Colonial Downs.
Second-time starter Search for Truth, a 3-year-old gelding by Tourist out of Kinley, won a 1 1/8-mile turf maiden race by 13 1/2 lengths. Later on the card, 3-year-old filly Belle Belisa, making her career debut, rallied with a purpose to win a 1 1/8-mile turf maiden race of her own, getting up by one length.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- There will be a pick six carryover of $132,105 into Friday’s Saratoga card after no one correctly selected all six winners in Thursday’s sequence.
However, there four winning tickets sold on the late pick five, each returning $161,870 for 50 cents.
The pick six began with favorite Key Point ($6.80) winning race 5. But the next four winners were Dufresne ($24.80), Take It Off ($79), Letmeno ($10.20), and Itsakeyper ($36.40). The only winning favorite in the sequence came in the 10th, when Amano ($7.90) ran down Abaan.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Masqueparade, the Grade 3 Ohio Derby winner who finished third in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy here July 31, returned to the work tab Thursday morning as he prepares for a likely start in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers on Aug. 28.
Masqueparade worked a half-mile in 47.55 seconds over the Saratoga main track. He went in company with the filly Sum Kinda Pretty.
Trainer Al Stall stopped short of committing Masqueparade to the Travers, but worked him Thursday with that race in mind.
This is by far the quietest week of the Del Mar summer season, with no graded stakes. The richest race of the weekend is Sunday’s $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
Next week is another matter, with seven graded stakes from Friday through Sunday. The Aug. 21 program has five graded stakes, led by the $1 million Pacific Classic, the richest race of the summer season.
Medina Spirit, the first-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs, worked six furlongs in 1:11.80 on Thursday at Del Mar.
This was the second consecutive week that Medina Spirit had a bullet work. Medina Spirit worked a half-mile in 59.60 seconds on Aug. 5.
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Zoffarelli won his American debut via disqualification in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds on turf at Del Mar last Sunday, becoming the latest in a years-long trend of stakes-winning European imports for Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal. The recent standard of success for an import owned by Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal is River Boyne, a seven-time stakes winner from 2018 to 2020 who is now at stud in Ireland.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Wesley Ward said his 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal was scheduled to depart Kentucky for England on Thursday evening and will make his next start at York in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes on Aug. 20.
