ARCADIA, Calif. - Doug O'Neill set a record for most victories by a trainer at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting on Wednesday when Long Gone Con gave him his 22nd victory since the meet began on Sept. 28.
O'Neill, 35, broke the record held by Bob Baffert, who won 21 races at the 1998 and 1999 meetings.
The Oak Tree meeting ends Sunday. O'Neill will finish the meeting as the leading trainer. Earlier this year, he won the training title at the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting.
ARCADIA, Calif. - In recent years, top California-breds have needed success on the national stage to earn the statebred horse of the year title.
Free House (1997-98), Budroyale (1999), and Tiznow (2000-01) won titles after winning or placing in the nation's most important races, including the Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup. Even the 2002 winner, Continental Red, helped his cause with a stakes win at Sam Houston Race Park last December.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The weather may be as big of a factor as pace or current form in Saturday's $150,000 California Cup Distaff at Santa Anita.
A threat of rain could lead to the transfer of the race from about 6 1/2 furlongs on turf to 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track.
Either way, there is no shortage of contenders in a field of 14.
On turf, Del Mar stakes winners Centerofattention and Roberta's Mango, the versatile Blind Ambition, and pacesetters Icantgoforthat and Grant Marty a Wish rank among the leading contenders.
ARCADIA, Calif. - When he won the inaugural California Cup Classic in 1990 with former claiming horse My Sonny Boy, trainer Bill Spawr established a Cal Cup precedent. In stakes restricted to statebreds, class frequently takes a backseat to current form.
The pattern is likely to recur in Saturday's $150,000 California Cup Sprint. Five of the eight runners in the stakes were purchased via the claim box, including the three sharpest in the field: Highly Tempting, Spawr-trained Summer Service, and Trapper.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be. She's better. At age 6, Cee's Elegance is racing in the best form of her career. She has been good enough to beat open company sprinting in the Grade 2 A Gleam Handicap at Hollywood Park this summer, and was second to Florida-bred Smok'n Frolic when going long in the Sunshine Millions Distaff at Santa Anita in January.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Even cheap claimers are pointed for Saturday's California Cup months in advance.
In July at Del Mar, Bernie Schiappa and trainer Frank Monteleone claimed Love that Lion for $16,000 with the $50,000 California Cup Starter Sprint Handicap over six furlongs at Santa Anita as a long-term goal.
On the way to Saturday's race, they lost Love that Lion for $20,000 in August, claimed him back for $25,000 in September, and risked him two more times for $40,000 and $50,000.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Funny Cide, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, will remain in light training, but will not run again this year, trainer Barclay Tagg confirmed Thursday.
Tagg said Funny Cide will be shipped to south Florida at the end of November or early December and be pointed to a 4-year-old campaign that will likely begin at Gulfstream Park.
"I'm not going to run him again this year, I'm going to take him to Gulfstream and plan everything out when I get there," Tagg said outside his Belmont barn.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The 2003 New Jersey Thoroughbred season, a year fraught with anxiety and experimentation, concludes Saturday night with an 11-race card at The Meadowlands.
The last of the 120 racing dates at the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority tracks drops the curtain on a year in which the anticipated threat of slots/video lottery terminal expansion in neighboring states did not materialize. New Jersey racing held its own, as efforts to expand gaming at racetracks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland fell short.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Three veterans of the California turf - Continental Red, Native Desert, and Spinelessjellyfish - can salvage lackluster seasons with a victory in Saturday's $175,000 California Cup Mile at Santa Anita.
Each has at least 40 starts and run outstanding races in past California Cups.
Continental Red was second in the 2002 Classic, a year after Native Desert and Spinelessjellyfish finished a head apart in first and second the Mile. Native Desert, a 10-year-old, also won the Mile in 1999.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The $100,000 Distance Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on turf, the longest stakes for fillies and mares on the California Cup program, produced the closest finish last year when Nicole's Pursuit caught Shalini to win by a nose.
Saturday, Shalini returns in the Distance Handicap, and the trainer who denied her a victory is back with top contender Valentine Dancer.
Both Shalini and Valentine Dancer have questions surrounding their chances.