LAFAYETTE, La. - Many jockeys go through dry spells, but few can rival the 25 years between wins for Don LeBlanc. Now 45, LeBlanc retired from racing at age 20 and sat on the sidelines until early this year when he made a comeback, highlighted by a win last month.
COLUMBUS, Neb. - Riders Dan Beck and Billy Henson were injured in separate incidents at the starting gate last Saturday night.
Henson was injured when his mount reared in the starting gate prior to the second race. He took off the remainder of his weekend mounts but has been cleared to ride again.
Beck was injured in the gate before the first race that night but was able to finish out the card. He took off his mounts Sunday with pain in his leg. X-rays revealed a chip in his left knee and a cracked knee bone, which will sideline him for two to six weeks.
This is Thomas Clifton's golden opportunity to take over as leading rider at Penn National Race Course.
Clifton came into Wednesday night's program just one win behind David Cora in the jockey standings for the spring-summer meet, which began on April 30. But with Cora serving a suspension this week, Clifton can move past him.
Cora has 63 wins in 364 mounts at the meet and is the track's overall leader for the year with 151 victories. Clifton ranks second at the meet with 62 wins and overall with 121 first-place finishes.
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - The trainer and jockey standings for the Randall meet, which ends Sept. 19, are beginning to look like one-horse races.
Through Sunday evening trainer Rodney Faulkner had doubled his nearest rivals, Martin D. Owens and Joseph Martin. Three wins this past weekend put the Faulkner stable at 18 while Owens has nine. Martin saddled four winners over the weekend and also has nine victories.
It's tough to get past Lac Laronge in the $60,000 A.L. "Red" Erwin Stakes at Louisiana Downs on Friday. Lac Laronge has taken his game to another level in recent months, and should be a solid favorite in the seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds bred in Louisiana.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The show payoff for Cal Flaming Gala didn't appear on the tote board Monday at the Bay Meadows Fair.
Five numeral payoffs don't fit.
But while fans were buzzing about the $146.60 return, trainer Terri Eaton had to be shaking her head in frustration once again. Her DWA Croix Blanche, the 3-5 favorite, had finished sixth to create the bonanza show payoff. Of the $12,094 wagered to show on the Arabian race, $10,809 was bet on DWA Croix Blanche.
MIAMI - French Village and Sir Oscar kept their records unblemished with surprisingly easy victories in Saturday's $75,000 Desert Vixen and Dr. Fager divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes. But it was another 2-year-old, Second of June, who may have made the most lasting impression of the day when he overcame an eventful trip to capture his career debut for trainer Bill Cesare.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Tim Hills isn't likely to soon forget his first visit to Woodbine, when he sent out Joe's Son Joey in the 2002 Nearctic.
Joe's Son Joey was running the race of his life in the Nearctic and had assumed a clear lead with a furlong to run when disaster nearly struck.
Joe's Son Joey caught sight of a bare patch on the turf course, which he attempted to hurdle while his jockey, Nick Santagata, did his best impression of a stunt rider and desperately hung on.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Telephone calls comprise the very fabric of a horse trainer's existence. Most are routine, but last fall Neil Drysdale got a fairly interesting one from England. Storming Home, a fine English-based stakes horse, was being considered for a switch to North American racing.
"I was contacted prior to the Champion Stakes, and it was mentioned there was talk about sending him over here," Drysdale said.
