Wooden Phone, who beat two-time Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) winner Tiznow in the Strub Stakes (gr. II) last February, heads a field of eight entered in Saturday's $200,000 San Pasqual Handicap at Santa Anita.
Team Valor's Bella Bella Bella has bent sent off favored in both her career starts and that trend will likely continue in Sunday's $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes (gr. III). Golden Ballet Stakes winner Bella Bella Bella will face just three rivals -- one per Bella -- in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Ysabel, two maiden winners and the maiden Gaslamp Girl.
Jockey Jorge Chavez guided 6-year-old mare Batique to her second straight grade III turf stakes win in Friday's $100,000 Honey Fox Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Earlier on the card, Coolmore Lexington Stakes (gr. II) winner Keats went wire-to-wire to win a 1 1/16-mile "non-winners of three other than" allowance by 10 1/4 lengths.
A successful Breeders' Cup and strong meets at Saratoga and at Aqueduct this fall helped the New York Racing Association achieve gains in on-track handle and total handle for the year.
Claiborne Farm, which announced last year that it would reduce the numbers in its racing stable, plans offer to up to a dozen of its 2-year-olds at public auction in 2002.
The New Jersey Assembly tabled a bill Thursday that would have provided $18.2 million to the horse racing industry, including $11.7 million for the Thoroughbred industry. The measure, which passed the Senate and two Assembly subcommittees in December, is expected to come up for a vote Monday, the final day of the session.
The attached list of racing organizations and officials were invited to attend a one-day workshop for the purpose of determining if agreement could be reached as to the need for a uniform policy for racehorse medication in the United States, and if so, where agreement can be reached on elements of such a policy. The workshop consisted of two segments: a two-hour open session briefing by experts on topics pertinent to the purpose of the Summit, and an intensive seven-hour workshop for the invited representatives which was conducted by a professional facilitator from outside the racing industry.
Uniformity among testing procedures and the development of a broad-based funding mechanism to support expanded testing programs and research were among 21 recommendations made by Racehorse Medication Summit report released today.
Gemstar-TV Guide International's stock is tumbling this week because of doubts that the company can protect its interactive programming guide patents in a key court case, according to analysts. Gemstar is the parent company to the TV Games Network, a horse racing network and interactive wagering service.
Sailor's Warning, a graded stakes placed son of Storm Cat, will stand in 2002 at Sam Fieramosca's Colonial Farms near Colt's Neck, N.J. His fee will be $3,500.
Three industry officials gave their views Thursday night on issues they expect will figure prominently in 2002. It came as no surprise the issues are medication, economics, and legislation.