EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Penn National-based trainer Todd Beattie will hit the road again Saturday, continuing a familiar routine.
Beattie maintains a private barn at that track and estimates that 45 percent of his runners ship out to race.
Beattie will load Tigress Bythetail on the van for the $45,000 Miss Liberty Stakes, the Saturday night feature at The Meadowlands.
The 1 1/16-mile race is one of the few remaining stakes opportunities in the country for 3-year-old fillies.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Winter Garden probably will not be crowned Canadian champion 3-year-old filly at year's end, but it's not because she wouldn't be a deserving winner of that honor. The 3-year-old filly division, which is particularly strong this year, is headed by Grade 1 Selene Stakes winner Too Late Now and two accomplished runners from Western Canada, Raylene and Dancewithavixen.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Jockey Ron Warren Jr., a perennial top 10 rider in northern California, was playing golf with former jockey and racing official Paul Nicolo the week the Bay Meadows fall meeting opened. Warren's cell phone rang, and on the other end was Warren's agent, Tom Doutrich, telling the jockey he was going to take a job as racing secretary.
"Paul suggested calling Fordell Fierce," Warren said.
Fierce retired from training two years ago and had never served as an agent before, but he agreed to give it a try.
Thus far, Warren hasn't missed a beat.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Jockeys Javier Castellano and Diane Nelson were taken to nearby North Shore Hospital in Great Neck, N.Y., on Thursday after the fatal breakdown of favored Sonn d'Oro in the first race at Belmont Park caused a chain-reaction spill.
Despite the seriousness of the accident, Nelson and Castellano were both conscious when taken off the track in separate anbulances, according to NYRA officials. Nelson told medical personnel that her left ankle was hurt, while Castellano complained of hip and back pain.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Special Matter, a former $12,500 claimer, pulled a 9-1 upset when he won the Grade 3 Carleton Burke Handicap last fall at Santa Anita.
When he attempts to defend his title on Friday in the $125,000 race at 1 1/2 miles on turf, bettors and rival horsemen will not ignore him.
ARCADIA, Calif. - King Robyn was little more than an ex-claimer from Calder when he finished second in the Grade 3 Baldwin Stakes at Santa Anita last February. He lost to stablemate Buddy Gil, who went on to win the San Felipe Stakes and Santa Anita Derby, and finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby.
Eight months later, Buddy Gil is preparing for a comeback following an injury, and King Robyn has found a niche as a sprinter, scoring wins in four stakes.
ELMONT, N.Y. - For most of the morning on Wednesday, Snake Mountain's comeback appeared to be at least another day in waiting. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens had entered Snake Mountain, a graded-stakes-winning son of A.P. Indy, in a $58,000 allowance race that had only drawn four horses.
But late Wednesday, trainer Rene Araya entered Cottage to make it five, and Snake Mountain is now set to take on four others in the 1 1/16-mile feature race on Friday after a five-month layoff. Snake Mountain was assigned high weight of 123 pounds.
Retama Park near San Antonio reported a gain in attendance but a decrease in handle during its 48-night Thoroughbred meet that ended Sunday.
Retama averaged 2,426 patrons nightly, up 8 percent from the corresponding meet a year ago. The track handled an average $868,172 a night on its races, down 18 percent from $1,062,437 in 2002.
Call Me Mr. Vain took the lead in most races won in North America this year with a head victory over Diplomatical in a match race at Suffolk Downs on Wednesday.
The two were tied at 10 wins apiece coming into the six-furlong race, and they raced head-to-head until Call Me Mr. Vain edged ahead under jockey Angel Stanley to win in 1:15. He paid $2.80 as the favorite.