Horse Racing News

Noble's Promise has raced exclusively on synthetic and turf surfaces to this point in his career, but there are reasons to believe that the Grade 1 winner might be an even better horse on dirt.

The champion 2-year-old of 2009, Lookin At Lucky will be adding blinkers Saturday when he makes his first start of the year in the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Hollywood Park has made severe cuts to its stakes schedule for the upcoming spring-summer meeting from April 21 to July 18, including reducing the purses of five Grade 1 races.

Rachel Alexandra had her final work for Saturday's New Orleans Ladies at Fair Grounds, going a half-mile in 49 seconds there Monday. A few hours later, she drew post 2 in a field of five fillies and mares in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Zenyatta had just completed a six-furlong workout at Hollywood Park on Friday morning when trainer John Shirreffs looked at his stopwatch and grinned.

Regardless of whether time is measured in decades or years, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has been waiting for a horse like Misremembered and a race such as Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap for a long time.

Careless Jewel, among the dominant members of last year's crop of 3-year-old fillies despite a disappointing performance in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic in her season finale, is getting closer to her return.

Mike Machowsky has seen enough.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Vale of York failed in his return to the races at Meydan on Thursday night as he faded to fifth in the listed $250,000 Al Bastakiya, a course and distance prep for the 1 3/16-mile UAE Derby.

As part of its objective to cut $4.3 million in stakes purses from last year, the New York Racing Association trimmed a total of approximately $1.4 million from its stakes program for the Belmont spring/summer and Saratoga meetings.