ARCADIA, Calif. - Weeks of dry weather has given way to the first rainstorm of the Southern California winter, and its duration throughout the six-day race week at Santa Anita will affect all that is four-legged.
Very little training was conducted Tuesday on a muddy track, the only turf race Wednesday was moved to dirt, and the complexion and distance of the Thursday feature will be unknown until race day.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Empire Maker, runner-up at odds of 2-5 in the Sham Stakes on Friday at Santa Anita, will add blinkers for his next start on March 15 in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. "He definitely needs blinkers, and I knew that going in," trainer Bobby Frankel said. "I haven't lost any confidence in him."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Horseplayers who like to handicap route races may be tempted to skip out of work and come to Aqueduct on Thursday, because seven two-turn races are on the program.
The best among them is the featured eighth race, a $46,000 allowance at 1 3/16 miles for non-winners-of-three lifetime.
The field of eight is a mixed bag of older males, and can be approached from several different angles.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Heart of the Cat and Southern Alert, who chased Tulupai in separate stakes races in their last starts, meet Thursday in an entry-level allowance at Oaklawn Park.
The six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies drew a field of seven, and has a purse of $31,000.
Heart of the Cat finished third to Tulupai, a three-time stakes winner, when the two met in the $30,000 Cimarron at Remington Park on Nov. 24. Heart of the Cat stalked the pace in sixth early, then rallied to lose by 2 1/4 lengths to Tulupai.
ALBANY, Calif. - Trainers love to have "now" horses in their barns.
Three possible now horses - horses who are sharp, ready to win, or ready to repeat - meet in Thursday's co-feature at Golden Gate Fields, a $50,000 optional claiming race for fillies and mares at six furlongs.
Now horse No. 1 is Broke in Blairsden, who moved to trainer Armando Lage's barn last year.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The other morning at Gulfstream Park, jockey Roger Velez happened by the barn of trainer T.V. Smith. Velez, like Smith, is a veteran horseman known more for grinding out a good living than living large on a national scale.
Three years ago, Velez reached the high point of his career when he rode Hal's Hope to victory in the Florida Derby. Hal's Hope was named for his then 88-year-old trainer, Harold Rose.
"You see this horse," Smith said to Velez, pointing to a dark bay colt. "This is T.V.'s hope."
ARCADIA, Calif. - A pick six carryover of $201,595 will be the focus for many bettors on Wednesday's eight-race program at Santa Anita.
The carryover is the highest of the meeting, which began on Dec. 26. Wednesday's pick six covers the third through eighth races, all of which are run on dirt. Two races are over a mile, four are for sprinters.
There are only six runners in the third race, a one-mile allowance race for 3-year-old fillies. Chief Little Dan, second to Major Idea in the Blue Norther Handicap on turf on Jan. 8, is the likely favorite.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Man Among Men went from being a minor turf stakes winner to a Triple Crown contender over the weekend.
An upset victory in the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita last Friday has left trainer Gary Mandella considering a mid-March prep race for Man Among Men, who beat the highly regarded Empire Maker in the Sham over 1 1/8 miles.
Sunday, Mandella said Man Among Men emerged from Friday's race in good form. The news was not as good for Empire Maker, who spiked a temperature over the weekend. He will undergo tests this week, trainer Bobby Frankel said.
NEW ORLEANS - Stewards at Delta Downs handed jockey Donnie Meche a six-month suspension on Saturday for his ride aboard Cleaning House on Jan. 23 at Delta. Cleaning House, a heavy favorite in a trial race for the Graduation Futurity, finished third, and Meche was penalized for not doing his best to win the race.
NEW ORLEANS - For the second straight season, Fair Grounds has cut purses in the middle of its meet. The purse cut was announced Monday and takes effect Saturday. It will reduce average daily purses here by about 10 percent, trimming purses in each race by $1,000 or $2,000. Eight stakes races will have reduced purses, including the Grade 2 Explosive Bid, which will be cut from $700,000 to $650,000.
