Horse Racing News

Weemissfrankie, one of the nation's top 2-year-old fillies, was scheduled to undergo surgery on Sunday afternoon after being diagnosed with a non-displaced condylar fracture following a fourth-place finish in Saturday's Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes.

Star Guitar, one of the best Louisiana-breds ever, won the Louisiana Champions Day Classic for the third year in a row on Saturday at Fair Grounds, capturing the statebred-restricted $150,000 stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Populist Politics.

Outsider Killer Graces, the most experienced filly in the field, grabbed the lead near mid-stretch and held off Charm the Maker for her first graded stakes win in the $402,000 Hollywood Starlet Dec. 10 at Hollywood Park.

Pomeroys Pistol began her season winning a graded stakes at Gulfstream Park and ended her season by doing the same, as she took over at the top of the stretch and bounded away for a two-length win in the $100,000 Sugar Swirl on Dec. 10.

Jockey Patrick Valenzuela announced his retirement Friday, ending a tumultuous 33-year riding career highlighted by a win in the 1989 Kentucky Derby on Sunday Silence but marred by substance-abuse problems that left him suspended for lengthy periods.

J C's Pride, the 2-year-old colt who set the track record for five furlongs at Saratoga this past summer, was euthanized earlier this week due to complications from an infection, trainer Robert Barbara said Friday.

One of the more notable sightings on the racetrack here this morning was that of the old warhorse Presious Passion, who is attempting a comeback with trainer Mary Hartmann.

With Uncle Mo retired, Stay Thirsty is now the top gun in Mike Repole's stable. And after a championship-caliber 3-year-old season in 2011, there are high expectations for the son of Bernardini next year.

Though Gulfstream Park opened one month earlier than usual for its winter meet last week, the graded stakes pickings are rather slim as they race through December for the first time.

Weemissfrankie will face the smallest field of her career when she starts as a heavy favorite in Saturday's $250,000 Hollywood Starlet Stakes, the last Grade 1 race of the year for 2-year-old fillies.