Delta Downs will increase overnight purses by approximately 10 percent starting Monday, according to Chris Warren, director of racing for the Vinton, La., track.
“Handle is going well,” he said.
The increase is the second of the meet. The season runs through April 16.
Delta lost four days of racing due to the recent winter storm system, and those lost races are being made up by adding races to existing cards, Warren said.
Remington opens Sunday
In the summer of 2019, Flying Scotsman was a new arrival at trainer Jack Sisterson’s stable. Then 3, Flying Scotsman worked on turf at Keeneland with Sisterson and fellow trainer Wesley Ward watching.
“Wesley said, ‘That is a Grade 1 horse,’ ” Sisterson recalled on Wednesday.
:: Get Brad Free’s Betting Strategies for Saturday’s card at Santa Anita
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Champion Monomoy Girl launched her season Sunday with a win in the Grade 3 Bayakoa at Oaklawn, and has come out of the race in excellent fashion, according to trainer Brad Cox.
Monomoy Girl traveled back to her Fair Grounds base Tuesday, along with champion Essential Quality. Cox said plans are for Monomoy Girl to return to Oaklawn for the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom on April 17.
There is no trainer more focused on winning the Kentucky Derby, or with clientele who share the same goal, as Bob Baffert.
In the years since he first won the Derby back in 1997 with Silver Charm, his stable size has grown, and Derby stock has become the biggest part of the portfolio. The combination of choice horses and a Hall of Fame trainer has resulted in three Derby victories and two Triple Crowns in the last six years. With six Derby victories overall, Baffert is tied with the legendary Ben Jones for the lead among trainers.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Kimari has run some big races, but none bigger than the powerful performance she turned in Saturday at Oaklawn when winning the $200,000 Spring Fever.
Kimari stalked the pace, took over, then separated herself from her rivals for an authoritative 4 1/4-length win. The start was her first since September.
“She certainly ran the race of her life,” said Wesley Ward, who trains Kimari for Ten Broeck Farm.
Ward said Kimari is now being pointed to the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison for fillies and mares at seven furlongs April 3 at Keeneland.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Envoutante on Wednesday was traveling to Oaklawn Park for an intended start in the track’s Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri Stakes on March 13, trainer Ken McPeek said. The start will be Envoutante’s first since her six-length victory in the Grade 2 Falls City in November at Churchill Downs.
McPeek also has nominated champion Swiss Skydiver for the Azeri and said she remains under consideration for the 1 1/16-mile race as well as the Grade 1, $300,000 Beholder Mile the same day at Santa Anita.
“We’re not ruling out the Azeri,” McPeek said Wednesday.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – At least five out-of-town jockeys are expected in action here Saturday, including Junior Alvarado, who has a return call on Candy Man Rocket for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Alvarado will travel across the Florida peninsula from Gulfstream Park, as will Luis Saez (Promise Keeper), Julien Leparoux (Unbridled Honor), and Angel Arroyo (Boca Boy).
OLDSMAR, Fla. – A busy weekend of Kentucky Derby prep races is liable to uncover a surprise or two. Vicki Oliver hereby volunteers to provide the surprise with Big Blue Nation.
Oliver is the trainer of Hidden Stash, one of the live contenders Saturday in the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs. A late-closing third in the Sam F. Davis here Feb. 6 after winning back-to-back races in Kentucky to end his 2-year-old season, Hidden Stash stands to improve enough to enter the Derby discussion with a big finish in the 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Derby.
Or so Oliver is hoping.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Dale Romans reported Wednesday that he plans to send Mr Freeze to Dubai for the $750,000 Godolphin Mile on March 27. Romans had originally been pointing Mr Freeze for the Razorback at Oaklawn Park, but altered his schedule after that race was postponed two weeks due to poor weather.
Mr Freeze has not started since finishing 11th going a mile and one-eighth in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational here on Jan. 23. His two graded stakes wins in 2020 included the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile.
Indiana Grand was granted permission to switch a day on its 2021 racing calendar on Tuesday during a meeting of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, but more important news related to changes that will affect bettors.
