(Edited Tampa Bay Downs report) 

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Assistant trainer Heather Craig doesn’t care if anyone thinks Grade II winner State of Play looks fat. When she saddles the colt for his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade III, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, she knows she’ll be sending out a fit horse.

Owned by Barry Irwin’s Team Valor International and trained by H. Graham Motion, the connections of 2011 Kentucky Derby winner and Eclipse champion Animal…

Amy Gregory
Keeneland Association Inc.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Five Grade 1 stakes, among them the Toyota Blue Grass, Central Bank Ashland and the newly upgraded Jenny Wiley Stakes, headline the 16 stakes worth $3.625 million slated for Keeneland’s 2012 spring race meeting.

The 15-day spring meeting will be held Friday, April 6 through Friday, April 27. There is no racing on Mondays, Tuesdays or Easter Sunday (April 8). Post time for the first race is 1:15 p.m. daily.

Five…

(NYRA release)

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will offer a new $150,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack beginning this Friday, February 3, and continuing through April 20, the final Friday of the meet.

The Late Pick 4 spans the final four races on the card and requires bettors to select four consecutive winners. By guaranteeing the wager, NYRA will supplement the net difference if the total pool is less than $150,000.

In…

(Edited Gulfstream Park report)

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer David Fawkes is optimistic about his chances in Saturday’s $1.3 million Florida Sunshine Millions … and why not? 

Not only will Fawkes saddle the 2-1 favorite and Mr. Prospector (G3) winner Apriority in the $150,000 Sprint, but he’ll also send the hard-knocking, stakes-winner Duke of Mischief to post in the $400,000 Classic.

Apriority and Duke of Mischief will be just two of the 17 Graded Stakes Winners on Saturday’s six-race Florida…

(Edited Santa Anita Park report)

ARCADIA, Calif. – Caracortado, who recently staged one of the most stunning stretch runs in track history, and swiftly developing Grade I winner Teddy’s Promise will be in action Saturday when Santa Anita presents its10-race Sunshine Millions Day that includes five stakes races and starts at 12 noon.

Teddy’s Promise will attempt to replicate her authoritative triumph in the Grade I La Brea Stakes for 3-year-olds on New Year’s Eve when returning at the same…

(Edited Santa Anita Park report)

ARCADIA, Calif. — Entries were taken Sunday at both Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita for Saturday’s $250,000 guaranteed (HBO) LUCK Pick Six, which will begin with Gulfstream’s eighth race and include three $100,000 California-bred stakes; the Sensational Star (4th race), the Crystal Water (5th race) and the Valentine Dancer (6th race).

he LUCK Pick Six will have a one dollar minimum wager and the entire pool carries a mandatory payout proviso.

Santa Anita will have…

Mike Willman
Santa Anita Park

ARCADIA, Calif. — Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park will celebrate the HBO series LUCK with a special Pick Six wager on Sunshine Millions Day, Saturday, Jan. 28.  The one dollar minimum wager will have a guaranteed pool of $250,000 and will feature three races from Santa Anita and three from GulfstreamPark.  HBO’s LUCK, the highly anticipated racetrack-themed series based at Santa Anita and starring Dustin Hoffman will premier the following night, Jan. 29.…

John Asher
Churchill Downs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs has set the dates for its trio of three-day betting pools for its 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager (“KDFW”) and a single pool for the historic track’s Kentucky Oaks Future Wager (“KOFW”). 

Dates for the pools for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which is now in its 14th year, are:
•Pool 1 – Feb. 10-12
•Pool 2 – March 2-4
•Pool 3 – March 30-April 1

Wagering…

$600 fee required for Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont eligibility

John Asher
Churchill Downs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Owners and trainers who wish to make their promising 3-year-old Thoroughbreds eligible to compete in the 2012 Triple Crown series of classic American races have only a few days remaining to complete that task  as the early nomination period to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), the Preakness (GI) and the Belmont Stakes (GI) nears its conclusion.

A payment…

Da vid Joseph
Gulfstream Park

HALLANDALE, Fla. – Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Kitten’s Joy was America’s Eclipse Award turf champion in 2004 and has since become a highly-successful sire. Kitten’s Joy now has a $100,000 stakes race for 3-year-olds named in his honor to be run Saturday, Jan. 21 at 1 1/16th mile on the same turf he won the Palm Beach Stakes (G3) early in his championship season.

Four colts by Kitten’s Joy are nominated to Saturday’s race,…