Shibboleth, winner of the Jaipur Handicap (gr. IIIT) in his last out, is the highweight for Friday's Poker.
Wednesday, July 03, 2002Saturday at Belmont stacks up well with two grade I races in New York.
Wednesday, July 03, 2002Trainer Bobby Frankel notched another stakes win Sunday when Inesperado closed from the back of the pack to win in the $182,600 Cinema Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Hollywood Park. Under Kent Desormeaux, the French-bred son of Zayyani completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.63 on the firm turf.
Sunday, June 30, 2002Audrey Skirball-Kenis, a long-time Thoroughbred owner and philanthropist, died Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Friday, June 21, 2002The New York Turf Writers Association is readying for its annual awards dinner, held this year on Aug. 19. Among this yera's honorees are Ogden Phipps.
Wednesday, June 19, 2002If there was anyone who doubted Milwaukee Brew, they'd better think again. Proving his four-length romp in the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) in March wasn't a fluke but instead a sign, the brawny bay changed his tactics and still came up big on June 15, running down Bosque Redondo late to win the $500,000 Californian Stakes (gr. II) at nine furlongs.
Saturday, June 15, 2002Denon made amends for two disappointing races earlier this year with a 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday's $350,000 Charles Whittingham Handicap (gr. IT) at Hollywood Park.
Saturday, June 15, 2002The Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap (gr. IT) will be renewed Saturday at Hollywood Park, with two of the trainers with horses entered in the race having ties to the man for whom the race is named. Laura de Seroux, who was an exercise rider for the trainer from 1973-89, will saddle Startac, while Neil Drysdale, a Whittingham assistant for four years, sends out Sarafan.
Thursday, June 13, 2002That chestnut blur you saw zooming across the Hollywood turf on June 8 was Megahertz. Don't blink or you may miss her. So far, the 3-year-old daughter of Pivotal has been unstoppable since she first set foot on local shores, and her sniper-like triumph in the $164,050 Honeymoon Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IIT) suggests she just might run the stakes table this summer.
Saturday, June 08, 2002The Belmont Stakes Day undercard and preceding days' stakes were characterized by dominating victories and strong-willed performances.
Saturday, June 08, 2002A small but select group of six fillies are entered for Friday's Acorn at Belmont Park. All but one have won a graded stakes event.
Wednesday, June 05, 2002Edmund Gann's You worked five furlongs at Belmont Park Wednesday ahead of an expected start in the Acorn Stakes (gr. I) at that track on June 7.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002Monday's $500,000 Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IT) at Hollywood Park is shaping up to be a battle between the West Coast's top turf distaffers and two Eastern-based invaders, with Astra and Starine representing the West and grade I winner Voodoo Dancer and John C. Oxley's Snow Dance shipping in from the East.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002Juddmonte Farms' homebred Skipping won the $80,175 Jim Murray Handicap on Sunday, beating Startac by two lengths in the 1 1/2-mile turf race at Hollywood Park.
Sunday, May 19, 2002Trainer Robert Frankel made it perfectly clear the morning after the Kentucky Derby what his plans are for Medaglia d'Oro, who finished fourth with a troubled trip, eight lengths behind the victorious War Emblem. "I'm going to win the Preakness with him," Frankel said.
Sunday, May 05, 2002Beat Hollow, a winner of four of six entering the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (gr. IT), added another win to his tally Saturday at Churchill Downs. Under Alex Solis, he sat in second through most of the race, then eased to the lead down the lane in the nine-furlong turf race.
Saturday, May 04, 2002Aury and Ralph Todd's The Tin Man will seek his fourth straight win when he faces three rivals in Saturday's $250,000 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile Handicap (gr. IIT) at Bay Meadows.
Friday, April 26, 2002The horse is named for a brand of espresso coffee, and in his last
start, he woke up as if he had swallowed a double shot of the stuff.
Saturday afternoon, Medaglia d'Oro will try to keep his Triple Crown
hopes brewing when he steps onto Aqueduct's main track for the 78th running of the grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial.
Edmund Gann's Medaglia d'Oro and Gary West's Buddha were on track for exercise Sunday morning ahead of Saturday's Wood Memorial (gr. I) at Aqueduct.
Sunday, April 07, 2002Gotham Stakes (gr. III) winner Maykovsky is definite for the April 6 Santa Anita Derby (gr. I), trainer Patrick Biancone said Saturday, but Royal Gem has been declared from the race due to a quarter crack.
Saturday, March 30, 2002Michael Tabor's Gotham Stakes (gr. III) winner Mayakovsky drilled five furlongs in :58 3/5 at Santa Anita Wednesday and is now under consideration for the Santa Anita Derby. Trainer Bobby Frankel may run turf stakes winner Royal Gem in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Derby prep.
Wednesday, March 27, 2002Sarafan's California connections take the winner's share in the Explosive Bid
Sunday, March 24, 2002Climate upset even-money favorite Shibboleth and Ladies Din Friday while running the fast turf mile of the current Santa Anita meet.
Friday, March 22, 2002A field of 14 older horses, including six graded stakes winners, has entered for Sunday's $700,000 Explosive Bid Handicap (gr. IIT) at the Fair Grounds.
Friday, March 22, 2002Ladies Din highlights a contentious field entered in Santa Anita's Friday feature race, a one-mile allowance on turf in which eight of the nine starters last raced in a stakes event.
Wednesday, March 20, 2002Medaglia d'Oro wins the San Felipe Stakes, shaking up the West Coast 3-year-old scene.
Sunday, March 17, 2002Amerman Racing Stables' No Slip rallied from last place in a five-horse field to win Saturday's $155,000 Golden Gate Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Golden Gate Fields.
Sunday, March 17, 2002Decarchy rallied from mid-pack to win Saturday's $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Handicap (gr. IIT) in a blanket finish at Santa Anita. On the firm turf and under jockey Kent Desormeaux, Decarchy completed the mile in 1:34.04, a neck ahead of Sarafan, with Designed for Luck a head length farther back and a neck ahead of 6-5 favorite Val Royal.
Saturday, March 02, 2002Milwaukee Brew's victory in the Santa Anita Handicap gave trainer Bobby Frankel his third straight million-dollar California stakes win
Saturday, March 02, 2002Mizzen Mast, the Strub Stakes (gr. II) winner and likely favorite for Saturday's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I), will miss the race due to a quarter crack, trainer Bobby Frankel said Sunday morning.
Sunday, February 24, 2002Seven turf runners will get a chance to stretch their legs in the 1 1/2 mile $200,000 San Luis Obispo Handicap (gr. IIT) Saturday at Santa Anita. Not surprisingly, trainer Bobby Frankel has the highweight and likely favorite, Denon.
Friday, February 15, 2002You relaxed off the early pace, then kicked in gear in the stretch to win the one-mile, $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes (gr. I) by a length over Habibti on Sunday at Santa Anita. Under Jerry Bailey, You covered the distance in 1:36.84 on a fast track to notch her second career grade I victory.
Sunday, February 10, 2002Decarchy became the third graded stakes winner produced by his dam when he won Saturday's Tanforan Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Golden Gate Fields. The half-brother of grade I winners Chester House and Honest Lady completed the 1 1/16-mile turf race in 1:44.25 on a course labeled "good."
Saturday, February 09, 2002Decarchy, a half-brother of Chester House and Honest Lady, worked three furlongs at Hollywood Park Thursday in preparation for Saturday's Tanforan Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Golden Gate Fields.
Thursday, February 07, 2002Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Flute has been retired due to a small chip in one ankle. She is expected to return to her birthplace, Juddmonte Farms near Lexington, Ky. on Thursday. No breeding plans have been decided.
Monday, February 04, 2002Already a grade I winner on turf, Redattore added a grade II win on dirt Sunday at Santa Anita in the $250,000 San Antonio Handicap (gr. II). Under Alex Solis, Luis Alfredo Taunay's Redattore completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.66 on a fast track.
Sunday, February 03, 2002Jerry Bailey will have the opportunity to log more frequent flyer miles next weekend, when the jockey will fly to California from his South Florida base for the fourth straight weekend. Bailey will ride Bobby Frankel-trained You in the Feb. 10 Las Virgenes Stakes.
Sunday, February 03, 2002"You're killing me!" Bob Baffert called out to fellow trainer Bobby Frankel, who was posing for pictures in the winner's circle following Juddmonte Farms homebred Mizzen Mast's romping victory in the Feb. 2 Strub Stakes (gr. II). "I may have to go back to Los Alamitos."
Saturday, February 02, 2002Trainer Bobby Frankel sends out the two highest weighted horses in Sunday's $250,000 San Antonio Handicap (gr. II), in which his Lido Palace likely will be sent off favored.
Friday, February 01, 2002French group I winner Beat Hollow, making his U.S. debut after a 19-month layoff, beat Little Ghazi by a length Thursday in the $61,000 feature race at Santa Anita.
Thursday, January 31, 2002Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, a staple in Southern California but a rarity in South Florida, plans on saddling Jerome and John W. Amerman's Lido Palace in the Donn Handicap (gr. I) Feb. 9 at Gulfstream Park. In other news, Mr. Pleasantfar is passing on the Mac Diarmida Handicap (gr. III) to tackle instead the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. I)
Friday, January 18, 2002It took nine days, but trainer Bobby Frankel notched his first stakes win of the year when Megahertz rallied from the back of the field to win Wednesday's $76,300 Blue Norther Stakes at Santa Anita. Last year, Frankel-trained horses won 49 stakes races, 37 of them graded.
Wednesday, January 09, 2002Amidst calendar-picture weather, a crowd of 27,713 marched forward on Dec. 26 to take in Santa Anita's seasonal opener, and there, standing front and center yet again, was Bobby Frankel, placing perhaps the final bow on his gift-wrapped year following Mizzen Mast's clear-cut triumph in the $200,000 Malibu Stakes (gr. I) in 1:22.13.
Wednesday, December 26, 2001The Thoroughbred Corp.'s Habibti edged 4-5 favorite You in the $358,000 Hollywood Starlet Stakes to earn her second career grade I victory in Hollywood Park's Sunday feature race.
Sunday, December 16, 2001Trainer Bob Baffert's Officer, the 2-year-old colt who won his first five races so effortlessly he was promoted as racing's latest wunderkind, will seek redemption from two dramatic setbacks in Saturday's $460,750 Hollywood Futurity at Hollywood Park. Siphonic, who overcame obstacles that compromised odds-on favorite Officer and finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, is expected to be a slight favorite in the grade I event at 1 1/16 miles
Friday, December 14, 2001With no grade I races scheduled for next weekend, trainer Bobby Frankel will have to wait before attempting to earn his 18th grade I win of the year. He will, though, have a big shot at picking up stakes win 49 of the year when he sends out Euchre in the $100,000 Native Diver Handicap (gr. III) Dec. 9.
Sunday, December 02, 2001You can go home again. Sometimes, it's exactly what you need to perk up. That's all it took for Super Quercus and Men's Exclusive, a pair of Hollywood homeboys who cleaned house over the weekend of Dec. 1-2.
Saturday, December 01, 2001Anyone and everyone who loves racing can vote online for their favorite racing image of 2001.
Monday, November 26, 2001There were no fractures, deep wounds, or even sore muscles. As concerned peers drifted in and out of the Hollywood Park jockeys' room following the tragic conclusion of the $500,000 Matriarch Stakes (gr. IT) on Nov. 25, Mike Smith admitted to having a single pain. "Just a broken heart."
Sunday, November 25, 2001