The California Authority of Racing Fairs is offering horsemen an incentive package for the Pleasanton meet that begins June 17.
Trainers will receive a $500 bonus for running five to nine horses during the meet. The bonus increases to $1,000 for 10+ runners.
Owners will receive a $2,000 bonus if they start five horses at the meet.
Out-of-state runners will receive a $300 bonus for both their first and second starts at the meet.
The overnight purse structure will remain at the 2020 level.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Jeremiah Englehart said he is no hurry to rush impressive debut winner River Dog into stakes company.
River Dog, a 3-year-old New York-bred son of Twirling Candy, won his debut here on May 2 by seven lengths. He ran six furlongs in 1:09.05 and earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure in the race restricted to statebreds.
His stablemate Devil Boy broke slowly and rallied widest of all to win a three-way photo for third.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Rudy Rodriguez said Bella Sofia’s 11 1/4-length debut victory Thursday at Belmont Park was as much a surprise to him as it was to the betting public, who let her go off at 11-1.
“She was a big, big surprise,” Rodriguez said. “She was training good enough, but not to do that.”
Bella Sofia, a daughter of Awesome Patriot, ran six furlongs in 1:09.69 and earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
The Colorado Avalanche are bound for the Stanley Cup playoffs later this month, led by star forward Nathan MacKinnon.
The squad plays in Los Angeles on Saturday and Las Vegas on Monday. In between those games, the team has a rooting interest in the second race at Santa Anita on Sunday, for 2-year-old maidens.
Mackinnon, a colt by American Pharoah, will have his debut for Avalanche player and horse owner Erik Johnson, whose stable is ERJ Racing.
Mackinnon was purchased for $285,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale of 2-year-olds in training in March.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Happy Saver, who went 4 for 4 in 2020 capped by a victory in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, worked a half-mile in 48.51 seconds Friday morning at Saratoga as he continues to prepare for his 4-year-old season.
It was the fifth work of the year for Happy Saver, who has not run since defeating Mystic Guide by three-quarters of a length in last October’s Jockey Club Gold Cup. Mystic Guide has come back to win both of his starts in 2021, including the $12 million Dubai World Cup.
Emerald Downs announced that four $50,000 races have been added to its original stakes schedule.
The 19-race schedule, worth $1.02 million, now includes the Governor’s for 3-year-olds and up and the Washington State Legislators for fillies and mares on July 11. The Irish Day for 3-year-olds and Kent Stakes for 3-year-old fillies share the spotlight on July 25.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Owner-trainer Glen Todd thinks the 4-year-old Miss Prospector is the most improved horse in his barn. Considering Miss Prospector won the $50,000 Hong Kong Jockey Club in her last start as a 3-year-old, Miss Prospector will be a handful when she runs in an allowance for nonwinners of three at Hastings on Monday.
The six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares drew eight horses and goes at 7:20 p.m. Pacific. The seven-race card gets underway at 5 p.m.
Eight Rings, a Grade 1 winner for trainer Bob Baffert in 2019, is approaching his 4-year-old debut in coming weeks, while Cezanne, the easy winner of the Grade 3 Kona Gold Stakes at Santa Anita on April 18 in his 4-year-old debut for the stable, has been taken out of training.
Baffert said on Friday that Cezanne encountered a “setback.”
A $3.65 million purchase as a 2-year-old, Cezanne zoomed to an exciting 9 3/4-length win over three rivals in the Kona Gold Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 106.
Hot Rod Charlie, third by a length behind Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby on May 1, jogged at Santa Anita on Friday, beginning preparation for an expected start in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5.
“Well jog for another day or two, and when he gives us the signal he wants to do more, we’ll start galloping,” trainer Doug O’Neill said.
O’Neill said the Belmont Stakes is “the plan as long as he tells us he’ll be ready for it.”
Hit the Road, the winner of two graded stakes on turf at Santa Anita earlier this year, will miss the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on May 31 because of a muscle strain, trainer Dan Blacker said.
A 4-year-old colt, Hit the Road will be pointed for the Del Mar summer meeting, and Grade 2 turf races such as the $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on July 24, and $300,000 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 21.
Hit the Road was fifth in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland on April 9 as the 5-2 favorite. The injury was diagnosed after that race.
