Horse Racing: 2020 conclusion: $323,000 (Santa Anita) and $106,000 (Aqueduct) Pick 6 hit on New Year's Eve

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Saturday, November 28, 2020 (part 2 of 2).

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Closing day: Tomorrow is the final day of the meet.
• Turfway Park: December racing in Kentucky will be held at Turfway Park.
• Card: All 11 races held purses $80,000 or more.
• Race 11: Keepmeinmind (David Cohen/Robertino Diodoro) was sent off the favorite and won the $200,000 Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in last-to-first fashion. The race is a Kentucky Derby prep. He broke his maiden in his fourth try, and yet in a graded stakes. My guess is the horse sees future racing at Oaklawn in Arkansas.

​

• Race 10: Mandaloun (Florent Geroux/Brad Cox) was sent off the favorite and won for the second time in two career starts. He is a 2-year-old son to Into Mischief and is owned by Juddmonte Farms (Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia). Another strong offspring for a hot sire.
• Race 9: Travel Column (Florent Geroux/Brad Cox) won the $200,000 Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes at 4-to-1. The 2-year-old filly won for the second time in three starts and was purchased by Larry Best, former CFO of Boston Scientific, for $850,000. Simply Ravishing (Robby Albarado/Kenny McPeek), a $50,000 purchase bred in New York, was sent off the favorite and failed to hit the board. He has finished fourth in two starts since winning a Grade I at Keeneland earlier in the year.
• Race 4: Warrior in Chief (Robby Albarado/Kenny McPeek) gave the rider two wins in two days. Yesterday's win ended a 56-race losing streak.
• Brad Cox may not have done enough to knock out the champ in Chad Brown in the eyes of some voters but he is second nationally ($18 million) to Steve Asmussen ($19 million) and sixth in wins in North America this year. Today at CD, Cox was 13 3-1-4 and won three of the nine races he entered. Maybe Asmussen is the leading competition to Brown's reign. Should be an interesting call by the voters. Cox gets my vote!
• Tyler Gaffalione had a forgettable day going winless on nine mounts and extending his losing streak to 14. From being hot to cold in a matter of days.
• Leading jockey: Tyler Gaffalione has 37 wins to lead all riders.
• Leading trainer: Michael Maker has 20 wins to lead all trainers.

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• Race 10: Cohere (Aubrie Green/Jason Meaux) won at 35-to-1 and paid $73.60. The jockey is from the small town of Riley, Idaho. She won for the first time at Wyoming Downs (Wyoming) in 2015. She has ridden at fairs and small tracks in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming, California and other spots.

Del Mar (California):

• Closing day: Tomorrow is the finale. Del Mar will in all likelihood be reporting high handles for the meet.
• Handle: Approximately $16,000,000.
• Irad Ortiz, Jr. won three times, twice for Chad Brown.
• Race 9: Domestic Spending(Irad Ortiz. Jr./Chad Brown) was sent off 4-to-1 and won the $300,000 Grade I Hollywood Derby in a strong finish. The east coast vs. west coast battle anticipated materialized as the easterner won by a head in a solid race against race favorite Smooth Like Strait (Umberto Rispoli/Michael McCarthy) who ran 9 of 11 career races in California. Bred in Great Britain, the 3-year-old won for the fourth time in five starts.

​

• Race 7: Count Again (Juan Hernandez/Phil D'Amato) was sent off at 8-to-1 and won the $200,000 Grade 2 Seabiscuit. The winning trainer had the horse for the first time after Gail Cox at Woodbine was the prior conditioner for the past four races. Horses were entered from Woodbine, Emerald Downs (Washington), Kentucky tracks, California tracks and Belmont.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=857tsqZRA_Y​

• Race 5: Fluffy Socks (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Chad Brown) won the Grade 3 $100,000 Jimmy Durante. The 2-year-old filly won for the third time in five career starts. Following the race, Ortiz was issued a 3-day suspension for the ride for altering his course.

​

• Race 4: Parnelli (Drayden Van Dyke/John Shirreffs) was sent off the prohibitive favorite and finally broke his maiden after three second place finishes. The lone first-time starter in the race was Editor in Chief (Flavien Prat/Bob Baffert) who finished nicely but still a distant second by more than five lengths. The $650,000 2-year-old colt intrigues me for future racing.
• Race 3: Meal Ticket (Tyler Baze/Jeff Mullins) won as the longest shot on the board and paid $94.
• Race 1: Masteroffoxhounds (Irad Ortiz, Jr./Richard Baltas) was bet down from a 15-to-1 m/l to 4-to-1 and won the opener.

Thanks for the memories Calder.

Where have you been?!

Calder was a good track.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Where have you been?!

Calder was a good track.

COVID work from home/lockdown blahs.

Tonight I'm grilling steaks and hoisting a beverage in honor of another lost sporting venue with fond memories. C'est la vie.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

COVID work from home/lockdown blahs.

Tonight I'm grilling steaks and hoisting a beverage in honor of another lost sporting venue with fond memories. C'est la vie.

Ah, be careful. Your insight has been absent. Enjoy your meal. Yeah, we had some Suffolk talk on the prior page. Now Calder. The older venues are being lost but 2020 has been a strong year for the industry. A terrible year with just about everything else but racing has been the one ray of sunshine.

I had 5 out of 6 on a $.50 Pick 6 at Laurel that paid $22,000 today but alas, I don't play Pick 6's so any frustration was all for naught.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

2021 Racing in Kentucky:

Turfway Park

• Jan. 1 – March 28, Thursday to Sunday (Thursdays all marked as “optional”)
• Dec. 1 – Dec. 21, Wednesday to Sunday (Wednesdays all marked as “optional,” no racing Dec. 24 or 25)

Keeneland

• April 1 – April 23, Wednesday to Sunday
• Oct. 8 – Oct. 30, Wednesday to Sunday

Churchill Downs

• April 24 – June 26, Wednesday to Sunday (Wednesdays all listed as “optional,” except April 24)
• Additional spring meet cards to be held on April 27 (Tuesday) and May 31 (Monday)
• No racing May 2 (Sunday)
• Sept. 15 – Oct. 3, Wednesday to Sunday (Wednesdays listed as “optional”)
• Nov. 3 – Nov. 28, Wednesday to Sunday

Ellis Park

• June 27 – Sept. 1 (all Mondays through Thursdays listed as “optional”)

Kentucky Downs

• Sept. 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12

 

[Fenway]

Yesterday marked the end of live racing at Scarborough Downs just south of Portland, Maine.

The track opened in 1950 as a thoroughbred venue and finally became an all harness operation in 1972 as they had problems attracting trainers in New England and harness trainers in Quebec liked the track.



The track was later purchased by Joe Ricci and in 1994 he had a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad day. He was placing simulcast bets and they would be processed at Suffolk Downs which then sent the bets to the other tracks. There was a slight problem - he didn't have the cash to make the bets.

About Scarborough Downs

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Sunday, November 29, 2020 (part 1 of 2)

• Florida: A rare weekend day with no racing in the state. Tampa Bay is dark on Sundays until December 20 and Gulfstream is in between meets.

Aqueduct (New York):

• Handle: Over $10 million.
• Jose Ortiz (4 wins), Junior Alvarado (2), Eric Cancel (2) and Jose Lezcano (2) accounted for all 10 wins.
• Jose Ortiz had a day of yore when he went 9 4-2-1. He doubled his win total at the meet. He nearly had five wins if not for an energetic finish by Junior Alvarado.
• Junior Alvarado won four of the seven stakes races held over the Thanksgiving weekend.
• Race 3: Bakers Bay (Junior Alvarado/Shug McGaughey) nosed Compliant (Jose Ortiz/Chad Brown) in what was the battle of the day in New York.

• Race 7: Lead Guitar (Jose Lezcano/George Weaver) won the $100,000 Autumn Days Stakes. The 4-year-old filly is 6-for-11 lifetime and on a 4-race win streak.
• Race 8: Share the Ride (Jose Ortiz/Antonio Arriaga) won the Grade 3 $100,000 Fall HighWeight Handicap. The trainer, who won for just the 8th time in 2020, lost the horse previously in a claim after running the Candy Ride gelding at Monmouth.
• Race 9: Lovestruck (Junior Alvarado/Bill Mott) won the $100,000 Tepin Stakes. All three $100,000 purses were won by favorites and the $1 Pick 3 paid a tiny $11.30.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Chalk erased: Favorites did not win in seven of the nine races. Value was aplenty today. So were losses.
• Weston Hamilton, who was named North America's top apprentice for 2018, had a three-win day which included 10-to-1 and 23-to-1 victors. He finished 4 3-0-1. The past two days he was 7 3-2-2 and rode for seven different trainers.
• Race 9: Sensationalist (Weston Hamilton/Justin Nixon) rallied strongly to catch the even money shot who nearly wired the field. That rider, Jonathan Joyce, returned to racing this year and is winless on 28 mounts. He last won in January 2014 when he most previously rode regularly. The $1 double paid $591. 10. The $.50 Pick 3 paid over $4,400. The $.50 Pick 4 paid over $4,900.
• Race 8: Oxide (Alexander Crispin/Lacey Gaudet), the third largest odds on the board of at 20-1, rallied strongly in victory.
• Handle: $2.8 million.

Churchill Downs (Kentucky):

• Closing day: Today was the conclusion to the meet. Turfway becomes the primary track in Kentucky until April when Keeneland has its Spring meet and then back to CD on April 24.
• Handle: Churchill Downs does not release daily handles through Equibase. The final sum will be revealed at some point this week.
• Tyler Gaffalione had a 4-win day to close the meet. He won all six riding titles in Kentucky in 2020 including three at Churchill Downs, a feat never accomplished by any jockey previously. Those titles include spring, September and fall meets at Churchill, both Keeneland meets (July and fall) and the lavish Kentucky Downs meet in September. The 26-year-old Floridian is the new King of Kentucky. He had a forgettable day yesterday going winless which extended his losing streak to 14. From being hot to cold in a matter of days and now back to warm. By all accounts, Gaffalione has a good reputation in addition to his riding skills.

​

• Leading rider: Tyler Gaffalione walloped the competition with 41 wins. The closest challenger had 27. He has won 200+ races in five of the past six years.
• Leading trainer: Michael Maker with 21 wins. Steve Asmussen had 16. Wesley Ward won 6 times with 15 starters.

Del Mar (California):

• Closing day: Today was the finale of the 15-day meet and handle was up 33% from comparable dates in 2019 to set a record for any non-Breeders' Cup fall meet at the track. More than $195 million was wagered. Indications were apparent as Del Mar was beating tracks nationwide on certain racing dates. Field size is always an attraction and 8.1 runners per race is appealing to most bettors. Deep fields, named connections and good equine athletes draw handle. Del Mar did a superb job.
• Handle: $15 million today.
• Leading jockey: Abel Cedillo led all riders with 19 victories. He earned $769k, second highest. Flavien Prat led all riders with $811,000+ earned. Juan Hernandez, only 9% at the meet, was third at $673,000+. He didn't win much but when he did the purses were high.
• Leading trainer: Richard Baltas defended his title with 11 wins (21%/46%). Phil D'Amato finished second with 10 wins (24%/50%). Richard Mandella was 27 9-3-5 (33%/63%). Bob Baffert was 17 7-3-2 (41%/71%).
• Doug O'Neill had less than expected numbers at 69 6-7-7 (9%/29%).
• Chad Brown: Whether Chad Brown defends his Trainer of the Year title is up to the pundits but he won 4 of 8 at this meet and that is tough to overlook. He will be in a close battle with Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox, the latter who could spring an upset but the old adage about knocking out the champ applies. Cox is 22% in turf stakes in 2020 with 17 wins, Brown is 21% with a nationwide high of 35 wins.
• Race 9: Viadera (Joel Rosario/Chad Brown) won the $300,000 Grade I Matriarch by a nose in what was called "desperately close" by track caller Larry Collmus. Rosario joined Chris McCarron as the only riders to with this race five times. Brown won this race for the third time in the past five runnings. The winner sports a 13 6-1-1 mark including 4 3-0-0 in the USA after racing mostly in Ireland. Brown, who entered three, finished 1-2. He is a turf specialist.

• Race 7: Beer Can Man (Juan Hernandez/Mark Glatt) shipped in from Indiana and shocked the locals with a 19-to-1 victory in the Grade 3 $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille. The 2-year-old colt has won three straight races and raced four times in Indiana under trainer Thomas Short. Today was the longest the turf sprinter ran.

​

• Race 3: Cathkin Peak (Flavien Prat/Phil D'Amato) raced for the second time and was victorious in his U.S. debut at 10-to-1. He placed in his homeland of Ireland in August. Du Jour (Mike Smith/Bob Baffert) finished second in his debut at 4-to-1 and paid a noticeable $8.80 to place. The horse is owned by the wives of Baffert and agent Donato Lanni. The exacta was strong at $66.70.
• Race 2: More Bubbly (Tiago Pereira/Rene Amescua) was the lone first-time starter and won at 15-to-1. Another lone first-time starter pays a handsome price. The trainer is northern Cal based.
• Southern California racing schedule December 2020 - December 2021:
  • Los Alamitos: December 4 - December 20, 2020.
  • Santa Anita: December 23 to June 22, 2021.
  • Los Alamitos: June 22 - July 6
  • Del Mar: July 7 - September 7
  • Los Alamitos: September 8 - September 28.
  • Santa Anita: September 9 - November 22
  • Del Mar: November 3 - November 30
  • Del Mar: BREEDERS' CUP: November 5-6 (17 races, $31 million in purses)
  • Los Alamitos: December 1 -December 14
• Northern California racing schedule:
  • Golden Gate: The main track in northern Cal runs from December 23, 2020, through June 15, 2021. Fair meets are independently released and will be finalized at a future date.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Sunday, November 29, 2020 (part 2)

Tokyo Race Course (Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan):

• Almond Eye (Christophe Lemaire/Sakae Kunieda) won the Tokyo Cup (approximately $5.8 million in purse money) in her final race. The 5-year-old, who won this race in 2018 and had career earnings approximated at more than $18 million, will begin the next stage of her life and will be bred in 2021 possibly to Epiphaneia who won this race in 2014. Almond Eye finished her career 15 11-2-1.
• Handle: $262 million was bet on the race with $357 million wagered on the program.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

GULFSTREAM PARK -- Hallandale Beach, Florida

Gulfstream Park opens its Championship Meet on Wednesday, The meet ends March 28.

Joel Rosario will return from California and ride briefly in New York and then Florida but ultimately settle in California for the winter meet at Santa Anita which begins around Christmas time.

Among those who I would expect to eventually move their tack to Florida from New York are Luis Saez, John Velazquez, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Jose Ortiz, and Javier Castellano (hip injury; out until mid-January). Junior Alvarado, Manny Franco and Jose Lezcano may be back-and-forth depending on the day but that is just speculation by me. Irad O. and Saez have been the top two riders the past three years.

Free live stream: https://www.gulfstreampark.com/racing/live-stream

Highlights:

Wednesday's card:

Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post Eastern Time
Race 1	$22,000	Maiden Claiming	5 Furlongs	Turf	9	12:35 PM
Race 2	$17,000	Claiming	1 Mile	Dirt	8	1:03 PM
Race 3	$28,000	Claiming	5 Furlongs	Turf	9	1:31 PM
Race 4	$19,000	Claiming	1 Mile	Dirt	8	2:00 PM
Race 5	$47,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Turf	8	2:30 PM
Race 6	$23,000	Maiden Claiming	5 1/2 Furlongs	Dirt	10	3:00 PM
Race 7	$27,000	Claiming	1 Mile	Turf	10	3:30 PM
Race 8	$47,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	6 Furlongs	Dirt	7	4:00 PM
Race 9	$47,000	Allowance Optional Claiming	5 Furlongs	Turf	10	4:30 PM
Race 10	$24,000	Claiming	5 Furlongs	Turf	16	5:00 PM

[TBODY] [/TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

The Pegasus World Cup is just seven weeks away. If the bulk of the rumored possible entries in fact are entered, this shapes up to be an excellent race. It may lack the star attraction of California Chrome, Arrogate or Gun Runner but the 5th running of the race could be the best yet despite the reduction in purse.

The winner gets an invitation to the second annual $20,000,000 Saudi Cup held in Saudi Arabia of which $10 million goes to the winner.

History:

Year	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Purse
2017	Arrogate	Mike Smith	Bob Baffert	$12 million
2018	Gun Runner	Florent Geroux	Steve Asmussen	$16 million
2019	City of Light	Javier Castellano	Michael McCarthy	$7 million
2020	Mucho Gusto	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	Bob Baffert	$3 million

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Possible Entries:

Horse	Sire	Trainer	Note
Tiz the Law	Constitution	Barclay Tagg	Multiple graded stakes winner including Belmont Stakes, Florida Derby, Travers and Champagne. A publicized rider switch from Manny Franco to John Velazquez for this race.
Happy Saver	Super Saver	Todd Pletcher	A perfect 4-for-4 including winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup
Knicks Go	Paynter	Brad Cox	Maryland-bred is 3 3-0-0 in 2020 after 10 straight losses.
Tacitus	Tapit	Bill Mott	Has won just once in his last 10 starts but is seemingly always in the mix.
Code of Honor	Noble Mission	Shug McGaughey	Had a better 2019 than 2020 and likely to get a rider change from John Velazquez who is scheduled to ride Tiz the Law.
Mucho Gusto	Mucho Macho Man	Bob Baffert	Defending champ has run once since last year's edition and that was a 4th place finish in Saudi Arabia in February.
Charlatan	Speightstown	Bob Baffert	Off since being DQ'd from victory in May's Arkansas Derby. Otherwise, won his other two starts. Lightly raced, a possible enigma.
Owendale	Into Mischief	Brad Cox	Won his opener in 2020 but dropped his last five.
King Guillermo	Uncle Mo	Juan Avila	Idle since May's Arkansas Derby.
Tax	Arch	Danny Gargan	Has been off since May finishing second in Arkansas.
Math Wizard	Algorithms	Saffie Joseph, Jr.	Hasn't won since the 2019 Penn Derby, broke his maiden at Gulfstream earlier that year.
Bodexpress	Bodemeister	Gustavo Delgado	Entering off a win in the Clark, his only victory outside of Gulfstream Park West.
Jesus' Team	Tapiture	Jose D'Angelo	Has never won a graded stakes but is entering off a 62-to-1 place finish in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
Performer	Speightstown	Shug McGaughey	Has won five of six lifetime starts including the Discovery in 2019. Could enter with one start in the past 14 months. Has never raced out of New York.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Source for possibilities: Horse Racing Nation

 

[GKJ]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

^ He also replaced Lou Nolan on PA occasionally at Flyers' games as you know. Vince Reed and Keith Jones were staples at Parx. Reed passed suddenly not too long ago and now Jones' retirement.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

• NYRA has accumulated $1,715,256,485 from 1,397 races in 145 days of racing compared to $1,998,633,683 from 1,866 races last year. Those figures include Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct through November 30.
• Tatersalls December mare sales (England) saw the equal of $3.07 million spent on Beach Frolic from legendary Irish-based connection Coolmore Stud's M.V. Magnier. The 9-year-old is expected to be bred to Gallileo.

​

• Eclipse Awards will be held on January 28, 2021. It is the 50th anniversary. The show will air at 7:30 pm ET on TVG -- among other outlets -- from Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, KY and not the usual spot of south Florida. Finalists will be named January 16.
• Saturday's stakes by grade:
  • Aqueduct: 1-2-2-3
  • Los Alamitos: 1

Tampa Bay (Florida):

• Handle: $3.5 million. Not a bad score for a Wednesday.
• Samy Camacho won four times and is the runaway leader in the meet's opening week with 10 victories. He is winning at a 36% clip.
• Race 7: A 105-to-1 shot placed and paid a brilliant $61.60 in the middle. The $1 exacta was a stunning $969.30. A dead heat for third gave roughly $1,900 $.50 tris to two winning combinations. One of the $.10 supers was close to $7,000.
• Race 9: John Campo, Jr. was the winning trainer. He won for the first time since 2012, mostly idle since then. His father nearly trained a Triple Crown winner with Pleasant Colony in 1981 (1st, 1st, 3rd... Summing took advantage of a terribly slow pace that year in the Belmont).

Gulfstream Park (Florida):

• Opening day: The popular Championship Meet which runs until March 28 began.
• Handle: Exceeded $5 million. Last year's opener was on a Friday and handle was $7 million.
• Post times: New management has stated that actual post times will be attempted. And that occurred in day one. Gulf was notorious to have 0 MTP for multiple minutes in order to attract increased handle. Handicappers should appreciate the change but getting acclimated likely will take time
• Paco Lopez rode three winners.
• Emisael Jaramillo, a consistently good rider, failed to hit the board with six starters.
• J. Kent Sweezey trained two winners. The Kentucky-native is still raw, in his 30s and training for just four years and a former assistant to Christophe Clement and Jimmy Jerkens.

​

Turfway (Kentucky):

• Opening day: Today began the meet which ends in April.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Paulick Report lists the following online poll.

John Velazquez has a large fan club I see. Otherwise, he has under 100 wins in 2020. His money earned is 5th highest nationally and though that is a significant sum, for best riders of 2020 others should be the focus. Interestingly Jose Ortiz is not an option. If only 2020 is included, it wouldn't be inappropriate to remove him from consideration. Irad Ortiz with Rosario/Gaffalione are my second/third picks in either order.

Which among the following jockeys would get your vote for an Eclipse Award for 2020?

• Tyler Gaffalione -- 15.60%
• Irad Ortiz Jr. -- 30.30%
• Joel Rosario -- 18.13%
• Luis Saez -- 6.87%
• John Velazquez -- 22.05%
• Someone Else -- 7.05%

Source: Paulick Report

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Exactly 100 horses entered for Saturday's card at Aqueduct. which includes four graded stakes (1-2-2-3).

This could be among the final turf racing days in New York as colder weather in the area usually prevents such racing. Laurel has removed turf racing for the past few racing days.

The Cigar Mile includes King Guillermo who was on the Kentucky Derby trail and is a possible runner in January's Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream.

1 Performer
2 Mind Control
3 Snapper Sinclair
4 Firenze Fire
5 Mr. Buff
6 King Guillermo
7 Majestic Dunhill
8 True Timber
9 Bon Raison​

Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post EASTERN TIME
Race 1	$80,000	Maiden Special Weight	7 Furlongs	Dirt	8	11:30 AM
Race 2	$35,000	Claiming	6 Furlongs	Dirt	8	12:00 PM
Race 3	$35,000	Maiden Claiming	6 Furlongs	Dirt	14	12:30 PM
Race 4	$150,000	Remsen S. GRADE 2	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	5	1:00 PM
Race 5	$70,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 Furlongs	Dirt	14	1:30 PM
Race 6	$100,000	Go for Wand H. GRADE 3	1 Mile	Dirt	6	2:07 PM
Race 7	$82,000	Allowance	6 Furlongs	Turf	16	2:44 PM
Race 8	$72,000	Allowance	1 Mile	Dirt	12	3:15 PM
Race 9	$150,000	Demoiselle S. GRADE 2	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	8	3:44 PM
Race 10	$250,000	Cigar Mile H. GRADE I	1 Mile	Dirt	9	4:13 PM

[TBODY] [/TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Thursday, December 3, 2020

• Sam Houston (Texas) has reported a record 2,300 stall applications. That number is mesmerizing. The track opens its 27th season on January 8.
• Todd Pletcher is roughly $3,000,000 away from becoming the first person in US history to earn $400,000,000 as a trainer. He should accomplish that in the first half of 2021.

Aqueduct (New York):

• Handle: Over $7 million bet today.
• Kendrick Carmouche (one win) has 17 wins and Eric Cancel (two wins) has 14 victories and they are 1-2 for jockey supremacy.
• Jose Lezcano rebounded from a tough start to the meet. He won the first two races today.
• Ferrin Peterson, who relocated from California to New Jersey under the tutelage of Julie Krone and who had a successful Monmouth meet, is 33 0-0-1 at this meet. New Jersey and New York can be a thousand miles away.
• Closing day: December 6. Onto.... Aqueduct's winter meet until March 28.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Sheldon Russell-Brittany Russell teamed once today but alas no fireworks. The hot couple entered the day 37% winners in 2020 when teaming.
• Alexander Crispin was 4 2-2-0. The 22-year-old attended jockey school in Puerto Rico. He could be a finalist for Eclipse Award Apprentice of the Year.
• Race 8: Lucre (Alexander Crispin/Justin Nixon) galloped to victory in a debut performance. Absolutely my favorite race of the day as the unraced 4-year-old filly showed little or nothing, was bottled, then went outside and flew like a quarter horse to bury the competition. Follow the #1...

​

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Race 7: Turlough (Paco Lopez/Todd Pletcher) was the lone first time starter and at 5-to-1 was an irresistible option but there was a hectic double veer/scene in which he was partly involved. "A bunch of antics here" as called by Pete Aiello says it all. And my 50-to-1 bomber was victimized as well in a separate veer. Both made moves that could have factored nicely.

​

• Paco Lopez is 17 5-7-0 (29%/71%) at the meet through two days.
• Turf course: With the track idle during the Gulfstream Park West fall meet and the abundant rainfall in the area, the turf course looks lush. Gulf's turf course can become grainy with the heavy usage but right now it looks good.

Turfway (Kentucky):

• Race 5: One of the biggest payouts of the day, the $.50 Pick 5 paid over $16,000.

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• Florent Geroux-Michael Stidham teamed twice and both resulted in victories. The trainer has sent out 12 horses at the meet and won five times.

Delta Downs (Louisiana):

• Timothy Thornton rode three winners.
• Race 7: The #10 was declared a non-starter which caused an extensive delay in producing payouts. The $.50 Pick 3 paid over $1,300.
• Race 6: Dynamo Kid (Thomas Pompell/Scott Gelner) was a 50-to-1 shot who wired the field. The winner, entering from Lone Star (Texas), paid $103.60.
• Race 3: The only first-time starter was sent off at 50-to-1 and placed to pay $34.80 in the middle. Not a win but once again, lone first-time starters can be awfully friendly.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

STARLET STAKES

What: Grade 1. This is a Kentucky Oaks prep race and the top four receive a 10-4-2-1 reward. A short field but it is Bob Baffert's trio of young females and Astute who looked prodigious in her most recent race. Princess Noor cost $1.35 million and is 4 3-0-0, Varda cost $700,000 and is 2 1-1-0 and Kalypso, in her first graded stakes, cost $240,000 and is 3 1-1-1. Astute won the Desi Arnez Stakes in mid-November and received a 101 Beyer for her effort. She is 2 2-0-0.
Where: Los Alamitos Race Course, Cypress, CA
When: Saturday, December 5, 2020, Race 5
Time: 2:28 pm PT; 5:58 pm ET
Who: 2-year-old fillies
Distance: 1 1/16 mile
Surface: Dirt
Purse: $300,000
TV: TVG (all-day coverage of racing)
History: Inaugurated in 1974. Bast, Abel Tasman, Take Charge Brandi and Blind Luck are among the winners of the past 10 years.​

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Kalypso (KY)	Abel Cedillo	120	Bob Baffert	6/1
2	Nasreddine (KY)	Tiago Josue Pereira	120	Michael W. McCarthy	15/1
3	Princess Noor (KY)	Victor Espinoza	120	Bob Baffert	1/1
4	Astute (KY)	Flavien Prat ? (replacement for Mike Smith)	120	Richard E. Mandella	7/5
5	Varda (NY)	Drayden Van Dyke	120	Bob Baffert	8/1

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[CHRDANHUTCH]

btw, I'm back with sad news..... Maine now has 1 less horse racing track as Scarborough Downs ceased operations about a month ago after its winter date meet after 70 years of operation....

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

btw, I'm back with sad news..... Maine now has 1 less horse racing track as Scarborough Downs ceased operations about a month ago after its winter date meet after 70 years of operation....

Look above. Fenway mentioned it.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Look above. Fenway mentioned it.

just got back online.......

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

just got back online.......

I noticed your prolonged absence. I hope all is fine.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Mike Smith COVID 19 Positive; withdraws from Los Al mounts

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Friday, December 4, 2020

• $895.3 million was bet in the U.S. in November.
• $10.17 billion has been bet in the U.S. in 2020. That figure is just slightly more than 1% off the 2019 mark.
• $3.99 million has been bet in the U.S. per day which is 35% higher than last year when $2.95 million was bet daily.

Aqueduct (New York):

• Handle: $7.5 million.
• Closing weekend: The fall meet ends Sunday. Onto Aqueduct's winter meet.
• Kendrick Carmouche added two wins to his meet lead of 19 victories which is five more than his closest challenger Eric Cancel who was without mounts today. Carmouche could win the meet title which would be a bit of a surprise even though bigger names were elsewhere for part of the time.
• Race 2: Miss Dracarys (Kendrick Carmouche/Neil Drysdale) won as the overlay of the day. At 23-to-1, the first-time starter had an attention-getting $525,000 purchase attached to her. Having a veteran Hall-of-Fame California-based trainer was also attractive.

​

• Race 9: Make It in NY (Jorge Vargas, Jr./Richard Schosberg) nosed a tiring Doublepour (John Velazquez/Mark Hennig) just prior to the wire. It isn't often Velazquez gets caught like that. The winner was sent off at 7-to-1. The $.20 Pick 6 paid over $28,000.

Laurel (Maryland):

• Handle: $2.1 million.
• Results: Mostly chalk with only one double digit winner but the exotics paid nicely. The opening $2 double, with 8-to-5 and even money favorites, paid $16.60.
• Race 3: It was nearly a triple-deadheat for place. The result was a deadheat for second place. The fourth place horse was literally nosed out for second spot.

​

• Sheldon Russell-Brittany Russell teamed to go 2 1-1-0. He is roughly 35% when riding for his wife.
• Sheldon Russell went 4 2-2-0.
• Brittany Russell is 32 16-6-5 (50%/77%) at the meet.

Tampa Bay (Florida):

• Handle: Over $3 million.
• Race 9: Bonita Annie (Huber Villa-Gomez/Cody Axmaker), the second longest shot on the board, placed at 21-to-1 but what stood out was though the horse entered from a win at Belterra (Ohio), the 5-year-old Arizona-bred had raced her three prior races at Arapahoe (Colorado) and before that her home park of Turf Paradise. I don't recall seeing horses run in Colorado entered at Florida tracks in recent years.

Gulfstream (Florida):

• Race 10: Souper Jaguar (Edgar Prado/Paul Kopaj) was the possible victim of a bad morning line or someone knew something. The 12-to-1 m/l was sent off the favorite and won by two lengths. The $.50 Pick 5 paid over $20,000. The $.20 Pick 6 paid over $36,000. Only seven jockeys in North America history have more victories than Prado who is closing in on 7,100.
• Todd Pletcher is 3 0-0-0. Yes, it is very early at the meet.

Fair Grounds (Louisiana):

• James Graham won both of his rides and now leads the meet with 8 victories.
• Race 9: Tensas Toddy (Aubrie Green/Gary Husak) won the finale at 49-1 and paid $100.20. The jockey, from Riley, Idaho, was part of the winning connections who wired the field of nine.

Los Alamitos (California):

• Opening day: Today began the meet.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Mike Smith COVID 19 Positive; withdraws from Los Al mounts

Which means Astute will have a replacement jock tomorrow in the Grade I Ky. Oaks prep. Flavien Prat is likely sitting in the wings. He is excellent. A rider change should not be an issue.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Oaklawn is roughly six weeks away. One of the highlights of 2020 was the job done by management and personnel associated with the track. Oaklawn is a treasure. It is building a sturdy reputation as one of America's most beloved facilities.

Here is the track's 2021 schedule:

Date	Race	Conditions	Distance	Purse
1/22/21	Smarty Jones	3-Year-Olds	1 Mile	$150,000
1/23/21	Pippin	4-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares	1 Mile	$150,000
1/23/21	Fifth Season	4-Year-Olds & Up	1 Mile	$150,000
1/30/21	Martha Washington	3-Year-Olds, Fillies	1 Mile	$200,000
1/30/21	American Beauty	4-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares	6 Furlongs	$150,000
2/6/21	King Cotton	4-Year-Olds & Up	6 Furlongs	$150,000
2/13/21	Razorback Handicap (G3)	4-Year-Olds & Up	1 1/16 Miles	$600,000
2/13/21	Dixie Belle	3-Year-Olds, Fillies	6 Furlongs	$150,000
2/15/21	Southwest (G3)	3-Year-Olds	1 1/16 Miles	$750,000
2/15/21	Bayakoa (G3)	4-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares	1 1/16 Miles	$250,000
2/20/21	Downthedustyroad	4-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares (AR)	6 Furlongs	$150,000
2/27/21	Spring Fever	4-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares	5 1/2 Furlongs	$200,000
3/6/21	Honeybee (G3)	3-Year-Olds, Fillies	1 1/16 Miles	$300,000
3/13/21	Temperence Hill	4-Year-Olds & Up	1 1/2 Miles	$150,000
3/13/21	Hot Springs	4-Year-Olds & Up	6 Furlongs	$200,000
3/13/21	Azeri (G2)	4-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares	1 1/16 Miles	$350,000
3/13/21	Essex Handicap	4-Year-Olds & Up	1 1/16 Miles	$500,000
3/13/21	Rebel Stakes (G2)	3-Year-Olds	1 1/16 Miles	$1,000,000
3/20/21	Gazebo	3-Year-Olds	6 Furlongs	$150,000
3/27/21	Nodouble	3-Year-Olds & Up (AR)	6 Furlongs	$150,000
4/3/21	Fantasy Stakes (G3)	3-Year-Olds, Fillies	1 1/16 Miles	$600,000
4/3/21	Purple Martin	3-Year-Olds, Fillies	6 Furlongs	$200,000
4/10/21	Arkansas Derby (G1)	3-Year-Olds	1 1/8 Miles	$1,000,000
4/10/21	Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3)	4-Year-Olds & Up	6 Furlongs	$500,000
4/10/21	Oaklawn Mile	4-Year-Olds & Up	1 Mile	$400,000
4/10/21	Carousel	4-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares	6 Furlongs	$250,000
4/16/21	Rainbow Miss	3-Year-Olds, Fillies (AR)	6 Furlongs	$150,000
4/16/21	Rainbow	3-Year-Olds (AR)	6 Furlongs	$150,000
4/17/21	Oaklawn Handicap (G2)	4-Year-Olds & Up	1 1/8 Miles	$1,000,000
4/17/21	Apple Blossom Handicap (G1)	4-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares	1 1/16 Miles	$1,000,000
4/24/21	Bachelor Stakes	3-Year-Olds	6 Furlongs	$200,000
4/30/21	Arkansas Breeders' Championship	3-Year-Olds & Up (AR)	1 1/16 Miles	$200,000
5/1/21	Oaklawn Invitational	3-Year-Olds	1 1/8 Miles	$300,000

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[MiamiScreamingEagles]

UPDATE: Race 7 is officially OFF THE TURF following an announcement by NYRA. That means horses will be scratched in that race. Handle will be altered but with only one TURF race scheduled, the reduction shouldn't be major. New York is expecting ugly weather today.





Exactly 100 horses entered for Saturday's card at Aqueduct. which includes four graded stakes (1-2-2-3).

This could be among the final turf racing days in New York as colder weather in the area usually prevents such racing. Laurel has removed turf racing for the past few racing days.

The Cigar Mile includes King Guillermo who was on the Kentucky Derby trail and is a possible runner in January's Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream. There could at least one scratch in this race.

​

Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post EASTERN TIME
Race 1	$80,000	Maiden Special Weight	7 Furlongs	Dirt	8	11:30 AM
Race 2	$35,000	Claiming	6 Furlongs	Dirt	8	12:00 PM
Race 3	$35,000	Maiden Claiming	6 Furlongs	Dirt	14	12:30 PM
Race 4	$150,000	Remsen S. GRADE 2	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	5	1:00 PM
Race 5	$70,000	Maiden Special Weight	6 Furlongs	Dirt	14	1:30 PM
Race 6	$100,000	Go for Wand H. GRADE 3	1 Mile	Dirt	6	2:07 PM
Race 7	$82,000	Allowance	6 Furlongs	Turf DIRT	16	2:44 PM
Race 8	$72,000	Allowance	1 Mile	Dirt	12	3:15 PM
Race 9	$150,000	Demoiselle S. GRADE 2	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	8	3:44 PM
Race 10	$250,000	Cigar Mile H. GRADE I	1 Mile	Dirt	9	4:13 PM

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[MiamiScreamingEagles]

If weather does make a significant impact in New York and bettors look elsewhere, Gulfstream's first Saturday card of the Championship Meet is a strong option.

139 horses are entered.

Race #	Purse	Race Type	Distance	Surface	Starters	Est. Post EASTERN TIME
Race 1	$50,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Turf	15	12:05 PM
Race 2	$80,000	Claiming Crown Glass Slipper S.	1 Mile	Dirt	10	12:35 PM
Race 3	$50,000	Maiden Special Weight	1 Mile	Turf	16	1:05 PM
Race 4	$75,000	Claiming Crown Express S.	6 Furlongs	Dirt	9	1:35 PM
Race 5	$90,000	Claiming Crown Distaff Dash S.	5 Furlongs	Turf	13	2:05 PM
Race 6	$150,000	Claiming Crown Jewel S.	1 1/8 Miles	Dirt	8	2:38 PM
Race 7	$95,000	Claiming Crown Emerald S.	1 1/16 Miles	Turf	15	3:08 PM
Race 8	$85,000	Claiming Crown Rapid Transit S.	7 Furlongs	Dirt	12	3:38 PM
Race 9	$95,000	Claiming Crown Tiara S.	1 1/16 Miles	Turf	11	4:09 PM
Race 10	$90,000	Claiming Crown Canterbury S.	5 Furlongs	Turf	14	4:40 PM
Race 11	$75,000	Claiming Crown Iron Horse S.	1 1/16 Miles	Dirt	16	5:11 PM

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