POMONA, Calif. - Following a dry winter that led to unsatisfactory conditions on the main track during the spring-summer meet, Hollywood Park has moved forward by one year plans to renovate the dirt surface. The two-day renovation process will be completed next week and will increase organic content and reduce silt and clay compounds.
Track president Rick Baedeker cited unusual weather patterns during winter as a possible reason the track was less forgiving this spring.
SALEM, N.H. - If you use a $25,000 stakes as a workout leading to bigger things, you better have a pretty nice horse. Color trainer Herman Kinchen confident as he sends Sweet Samantha as the favorite in Sunday's Concord Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Rockingham Park.
Sweet Samantha, who is owned by Tolland Farm, has raced only once and will take on a full field in Sunday's six-furlong stakes. But because her debut was a resounding victory at Saratoga, Kinchen is already looking down the road.
MIAMI - As chairman of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association insurance committee, Linda Mills is well aware of the serious problem facing the racing industry regarding workmen's compensation. And as president of the Florida Division of the HBPA, Mills understands how desperate that situation is becoming in her own state.
ELMONT, N.Y. - As a Grade 1 race with a $300,000 purse, the Vosburgh is certainly an important race for a horse to win. As a prep for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, however, a Vosburgh victory is not so imperative.
Only one Vosburgh winner - Artax in 1999 - has come back to win the Sprint. Ten other Vosburgh winners have tried and failed. Still, the Vosburgh has produced its share of Sprint winners, including Gulch, Dancing Spree, Cherokee Run, and last year, Squirtle Squirt, who finished second to Left Bank in the Vosburgh.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Bob Baffert will seek his second consecutive victory in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes on Oct. 5 when he ships Del Mar Futurity winner Icecoldbeeratreds to Belmont Park for the $500,000 race for 2-year-olds.
Baffert won last year's Champagne with Officer, who was also coming off a victory in the Del Mar Futurity. Like Officer, Icecoldbeeratreds is a California-bred who won his first two starts in restricted company.
ELMONT, N.Y. - After unsuccessfully chasing the nation's top turf fillies and mares at 1 3/16 miles in Chicago, Tates Creek finds a better spot when she heads an 11-horse field in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000, Noble Damsel Handicap at one mile at Belmont Park.
Following her dramatic nose victory in the Grade 2 Diana Handicap at Saratoga, Tates Creek chased Golden Apples, Astra, and England's Legend in the Grade 1 Beverly D. at Arlington. After chasing the early pace, Tates Creek tired in the stretch and finished last, beaten only 4 3/4 lengths.
Topped by the $200,000 Classic, Maryland Million Day takes center stage at Pimlico on Saturday.
The 17th Maryland Million comprises 10 races, worth a total of $1 million. The races are restricted to the progeny of Maryland-based stallions.
The 1 3/16-mile Classic, the 10th and final race on the card, has drawn 10 horses. The strong favorite and 126-pound highweight is graded stakes winner Duckhorn.
Duckhorn, a 5-year-old son of Not for Love, worked at Churchill Downs on Tuesday and was scheduled to arrive in Maryland early on Friday.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - In each of the past five years, betting on the Super Derby has been dominated by an odds-on favorite, but when Louisiana Downs runs its signature race on Saturday the money will be much more evenly distributed.
As many as four horses could vie for favoritism in the $500,000 Super Derby, which this year has been shortened in distance from 1 1/4 miles to 1 1/8 miles and downgraded to a Grade 2 after being run as a Grade 1 since 1983.
As far as September traditions in Kentucky go, it hasn't quite achieved the same standing as tobacco harvesting, high school homecomings, or pledge-night ceremonies.
But in just a few short years, the Kentucky Cup turf series has come a long way. For one September day each year, the focus of Kentucky racing is on the sprawling but otherwise forgotten terrain of Kentucky Downs, the turf-only course in Franklin that has played host to four Kentucky Cup races every year since 1998.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - There could be a lot at stake for unbeaten Handpainted in Saturday's $276,500 Mazarine Breeders' Cup Stakes.
A decisive victory by Handpainted would make her a virtual shoo-in for the Sovereign Award as champion 2-year-old filly, and would likely earn her a trip to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Arlington on Oct. 26.
