MIAMI - Bay Street Gal has always been a very good dirt horse. But since the tail end of her 4-year-old campaign she has turned into a stakes-caliber turf mare.
Trainer Enrique Alonso is hoping he will be able to get Bay Street Gal back on the grass for the first time in three months Saturday as the likely favorite in the $75,000 Aspidistra Handicap.
No Parole, the upset winner of the Mike Lee, will try to win the second leg of the Big Apple Triple on Saturday in the $125,000-added New York Derby at Finger Lakes.
If No Parole captures the 1 1/16-mile New York Derby and returns to win the third leg of the series, the $150,000 Albany at Saratoga on Aug. 21, the colt's owner, Thomas Mina, will claim a $250,000 bonus.
Seven New York-bred 3-year-olds were entered in the New York Derby, including the Steve Asmussen-trained Private Emblem. Asmussen leads the country in wins and is second in money won.
Saturday's $150,000 Martha Washington Breeders' Cup Stakes, a Grade 3 at Laurel Park, didn't draw a particularly strong field.
There are no graded winners among the 10 3-year-old fillies entered in the 1 1/16-mile grass race and only a smattering of fillies who have won minor stakes.
The horse to beat could be Bells for Marlin, a comfortable winner of the $50,000 Twin Light Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 6.
After Bet on Sunshine was soundly beaten when trying for a three-peat in the Aristides Handicap last month at Churchill Downs, trainer Paul McGee wondered if the 10-year-old gelding had lost a step or whether he needed races with more distance.
Maybe Bet on Sunshine isn't the same horse who has racked up more than $1.4 million in earnings the last seven years. Or maybe he does need longer races, such as the 1 1/16-mile race that he won by 7 1/4 lengths last fall at Churchill.
DEL MAR, Calif. - With frontrunners and closers, jockeys Laffit Pincay, Jr. and Patrick Valenzuela ended lengthy droughts in the Oceanside Stakes with victories in divisions of the opening day stakes at Del Mar on Wednesday.
Pincay's win in the first division aboard the frontrunning Rock Opera was his first in the race since 1987. Valenzuela scored his first Oceanside victory since 1989 when True Phenomenon rallied from the back of the field to win the second division.
Both winners figure to return in the $300,000 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 7.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Alex Waldrop, who for nearly three years has been president and general manager of Churchill Downs racetrack, has been moved into the newly created position of senior vice president for public affairs of Churchill Downs Inc., it was announced Thursday.
A search is on for a new track president. John Long, chief operating officer of CDI, will oversee day-to-day operations at the track, while Jim Gates will be interim general manager.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The more Christophe Clement thought about it, the less sense it made to run Forbidden Apple in last month's Poker Handicap. Despite Forbidden Apple's affinity for Belmont Park's turf course, Clement thought he was at a disadvantage facing the Bobby Frankel-trained Shibboleth on a hot day.
Though Shibboleth bombed as the 1-2 favorite, Clement said he has no regrets keeping Forbidden Apple out.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The competition for You in Saturday's $250,000 Test Stakes got a bit tougher on Wednesday when trainer Ron Taylor confirmed that Bold World would run in the Grade 1 race for 3-year-old fillies.
Taylor will wheel Bold World back just two weeks after she won the Grade 3 Azalea Breeders' Cup at Calder. It was her sixth win in seven starts this year. She is 7 for 11 overall.
Taylor said he made the decision to run after receiving good news on some bloodwork he had taken on the filly earlier in the week.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Open the gates, and they will come. And, they will bet.
Under ideal weather conditions, and despite an offtrack to begin the day, Saratoga posted record numbers for the Wednesday opening of its 134th season.
The ontrack crowd of 32,913 topped last year's figure of 31,254 by 5 percent and the ontrack handle of $3,723,441 beat last year's figure by 6 percent. Total handle on opening day was $14,941,864, which beat last year's figure by 4 percent.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Questions surround the form of several of the leading contenders in Friday's $125,000 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes at Del Mar.
Global Finance won the Nursery Stakes at Hollywood Park in May but was 10th as the favorite in the Cinderella Stakes on June 2. The result left her trainer dismayed.
Magic Smoke won the Cinderella but was eighth as the favorite in the Grade 3 Landaluce Stakes on July 4. "She didn't handle the dirt coming back," trainer Sandy Shulman said.
