Friday, March 12 2010

Jockey Lopez gets win 1,000

FLORENCE, KY . . . March 11, 2010 . . . Jockey James Lopez, 32, earned his 1,000th career win Thursday when he guided Dance Hall Darlin to her maiden score in the ninth race at Turfway Park.

A native of San Antonio, Lopez grew up on the Louisiana and Kentucky racing circuits as his father, also a jockey, plied his trade. His grandfather was a jockey as well. With that heritage to inspire him, Lopez began galloping horses at age 12, and at age 16, against his father’s wishes, quit school and took out his jockey’s license. He rode his first winner in 1996 at Retama Park.

Timeless Fashion heads Tejano Run

FLORENCE, KY . . . March 11, 2010 . . . Timeless Fashion heads the field for the $50,000 Tejano Run Stakes at Turfway Park Saturday, trying for his second stakes win in a row. Written for horses four years old and up, the race covers 1 1/8 miles.

A six-year-old gelding trained by Tom Drury Jr., Timeless Fashion has been off since winning the 1 1/8-mile Prairie Bayou Stakes at Turfway in December. He has spent his career going long; three starts back he was fourth, beaten less than a length, in the 1-1/2 mile Grade III Sycamore turf stakes at Keeneland behind the lauded veteran Cloudy’s Knight. Timeless Fashion has raced eight times on Turfway’s Polytrack and has missed the money only once, with four wins. He tuned up for the Tejano Run with a six-furlong breeze in 1:13.60 on the all-weather surface at Skylight Training Center last Saturday. James Lopez has returned to Kentucky to take the mount. Usually on or near the lead, Timeless Fashion showed versatility in the Prairie Bayou when he relaxed off the pace until making a wide move into the stretch.

Wednesday, March 10 2010

Traditions, new ideas, fun mark Lane’s End Stakes

FLORENCE, KY . . . March 10, 2010 . . . Community-linked events and traditions mark the 39th running of the Lane’s End Stakes at Turfway Park, set for March 27. With its $500,000 purse, the Grade II Lane’s End virtually guarantees the winner a spot in the Kentucky Derby and has long been a major stop on the Derby trail.

The premier venue for the Lane’s End Stakes is the Maker’s Mark VIP Tent, with seating for about 1,800 fans. Sponsored since 2002 by Kentucky bourbon distiller Maker’s Mark, the tent features Executive Chef Peter Haubi’s grand buffet, premium open bar, and live entertainment. New to the tent this year is the Rube Goldberg-inspired Maker's Mark bar, a whimsical collection of moving parts that represents the painstaking process used to make the famed handmade bourbon.

Traditions, new ideas, fun mark Lane’s End Stakes

FLORENCE, KY . . . March 10, 2010 . . . Community-linked events and traditions mark the 39th running of the Lane’s End Stakes at Turfway Park, set for March 27. With its $500,000 purse, the Grade II Lane’s End virtually guarantees the winner a spot in the Kentucky Derby and has long been a major stop on the Derby trail.

The premier venue for the Lane’s End Stakes is the Maker’s Mark VIP Tent, with seating for about 1,800 fans. Sponsored since 2002 by Kentucky bourbon distiller Maker’s Mark, the tent features Executive Chef Peter Haubi’s grand buffet, premium open bar, and live entertainment. New to the tent this year is the Rube Goldberg-inspired Maker's Mark bar, a whimsical collection of moving parts that represents the painstaking process used to make the famed handmade bourbon.

Sunday, March 07 2010

Luck o’ the Irish holds for Rinterval in Wintergreen

FLORENCE, KY . . . March 6, 2010 . . . Irish-bred Rinterval earned her first stakes trophy at Turfway Park Saturday, winning the Wintergreen Stakes on, appropriately enough, the track’s 4th annual Irish Day at the Races. Danzon closed from last in the field of 10 to finish 2 1/4 lengths back in second, a neck ahead of Irish Ridge. Apprentice Ben Creed was aboard Rinterval for trainer Eric Reed and owner Jerry Jamgotchian.

The Wintergreen trophy was presented by Tom McGovern, president of the Fenians of Northern Kentucky, the Irish culture and heritage organization that annually presents Irish Day at the Races at Turfway.

Saturday, February 27 2010

Vow to Wager awarded Battaglia Memorial

FLORENCE, KY . . . February 27, 2010 . . . Vow to Wager was awarded the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park Saturday after Codoy was disqualified for interference in the stretch.

“I saw the race and thought he would have won if he hadn’t been bothered,” said Vow to Wager’s trainer Dale Romans, who was at Gulfstream Park Saturday. “He had a terrible trip all around—wide on the turn, squeezed back.”

Friday, February 26 2010

Battaglia Memorial reunites top WEBN finishers

FLORENCE, KY . . . February 25, 2010 . . . The top five finishers in last month’s WEBN Stakes return to Turfway Park Saturday for the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, the last local prep for the Lane’s End Stakes on March 27. Eight three-year-olds are entered for the Battaglia Memorial, run at 1 1/16 miles over Polytrack.

Kera’s Kitten stumbled badly out of the gate in the first local prep, the six-furlong Turfway Prevue, and finished seventh. He turned that result all the way around in the one-mile WEBN Stakes, leading at every call to win by two-and-a-half lengths. Twice a stakes winner, Kera’s Kitten is three-for-five in his young career, with all three wins coming in front-running fashion. He has been training steadily and well at Turfway for Mike Maker, and Tom Pompell, aboard for the WEBN, is back aboard Saturday.

Turfway to host 4th annual Irish Day at the Races

FLORENCE, KY . . . February 25, 2010 . . . The luck of the Irish will be in full force at Turfway Park on Saturday, March 6, when the Florence, Ky., Thoroughbred racecourse hosts the fourth annual Irish Day at the Races. The family-friendly event is presented by the Fenians of Northern Kentucky, an Irish heritage cultural organization with roots dating from the mid-19th century.

Scheduled for noon to 6:30pm during Turfway’s live racing program, Irish Day at the Races features all things Irish: jigs, reels, and Celtic roots music from the Vinegar Hill Irish Band, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Glee Club, and bagpiper Patrick Hill; performances by national and international champions the McGing Irish Dancers; and a wide variety of Irish-themed artwork, jewelry, clothing, and other handcrafts. Molly Malone’s Irish Pub in Covington will provide such authentic Irish fare as Irish stew, corned beef and cabbage, and shepherd’s pie, and traditional Irish beverages such as Killian’s Irish Red, Tullamore Dew, Michael Collins, Jameson, and Feckin will be available.

Tuesday, February 23 2010

Lane’s End Stakes draws 151 nominations

FLORENCE, KY . . . February 22, 2010 . . . The 39th running of Turfway Park’s Lane’s End Stakes, a Grade II prep race for the Kentucky Derby, has drawn 151 nominations, Racing Secretary Richard S. Leigh announced Monday. The 1 1/8-mile race for three-year-olds is scheduled for March 27.

For years run six weeks before the Kentucky Derby, the Lane’s End Stakes this year is scheduled five weeks ahead of the first Saturday in May to accommodate the recent trend toward fewer preps with ample time between them. The Lane’s End Stakes’ $500,000 purse virtually guarantees the winner a spot in the Derby field should more than 20 seek to enter.

Saturday, February 20 2010

Two turns no problem for Helen Belen in Valdale Stakes

FLORENCE, KY . . . February 20, 2010 . . . Helen Belen broke well and never looked back in the $50,000 Valdale Stakes at Turfway Park Saturday, cruising on the lead throughout the mile and winning by 14-3/4 lengths.

Helen Belen broke third in the field of 10 and led at the quarter-mile mark but was still just a couple of lengths in front after half. Those who waited for her to tire waited in vain, and she increased her lead without challenge. Hot Citizen was best of the rest, a length ahead of Offlee Funny in third.

Friday, February 19 2010

Fillies return for Valdale Stakes

FLORENCE, KY . . . February 19, 2010 . . . The top three finishers in the Cincinnati Trophy Stakes last month return for the $50,000 Valdale Stakes at Turfway Park Saturday. The two races, both for three-year-old fillies, are local preps for the Grade III Bourbonette Oaks on the Lane’s End undercard March 27. The one-mile Valdale overfilled, drawing 14 entries.

Cactus Cadillac won the Cincinnati Trophy sprint and goes for her third straight win in the Valdale, with Ben Creed back aboard. Trainer David Pate says she prefers a mile or longer, and indeed she already owns two wins at the Valdale’s mile distance, one on Polytrack and one on the Churchill turf. She has never been out of the money in four starts on all-weather surfaces.

Sunday, February 14 2010

Likely Exchange goes according to plan for Lady’s Laughter

FLORENCE, KY . . . February 13, 2010 . . . Armed with a good read on his filly and the field, jockey John McKee brought Lady’s Laughter home for her first stakes win, taking the $50,000 Likely Exchange Stakes Saturday at Turfway Park by half a length over Rinterval. Final time for the Polytrack mile was 1:38.39

Lady’s Laughter raced in third through five furlongs but was as much as six lengths off the pace set by Unspoken Word, who dropped out of contention near the quarter-pole after being pushed along from the start by Rinterval. McKee let his filly go entering the final turn, and despite an erratic trip in the stretch Lady’s Laughter wore down the stubborn Rinterval a couple of strides before the wire. Danzon, the 8-5 favorite, closed to finish third, another length and a half back.