The Gulfstream Park 2023-24 Championship Meet is ready to begin on Friday, Dec. 1. The season will continue until March 31 and will feature many of the best trainers and jockeys, grass horses, and leading Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve prospects around, making it a must-bet track for all serious horseplayers and handicappers for the next several months.
Month: November 2023
Bill Downes Named Track Announcer For Upcoming Meet At Golden Gate Fields
Golden Gate Fields has hired Bill Downes as track announcer for the upcoming 2023-2024 Winter/Spring meet. Downes has called at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash., for their last two race seasons and comes to Golden Gate with over two decades of experience in the announcer's booth.
“We look forward to having Bill call our races,” said Golden Gate Fields Vice President and General Manager David Duggan. “He has called all over the country and provides viewers and listeners with an accurate description of a race.”
Along with his stint at Emerald, Downes has also described the on-track action at Beulah Park, Ellis Park, Indiana Grand, Presque Isle Downs, and River Downs. He began his race calling career at Arapahoe Park in 1999. A Chicago native, Downes grew up attending Arlington Park with his father, which quickly culminated into a lifelong passion for Thoroughbred racing.
Santa Anita track announcer Frank Mirahmadi will be calling the final two weeks of the Golden Gate Fall Meet, which ends on Sunday, Dec. 10. The Winter/Spring Meet begins the day after Christmas, Tuesday, Dec. 26, and runs through mid-June on a Friday through Sunday basis.
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Pick 6 Carryover Of $46,068 On Thursday At Aqueduct
Thursday's card at Aqueduct Racetrack will be bolstered by a Pick 6 carryover of $46,068 after the multi-race wager went unsolved on Sunday's nine-race card.
The $1 Pick 6 returned $5,118.50 to bettors who selected 5-of-6 winners correctly.
Sunday's sequence kicked off in Race 4 as Chuck Willis [No. 6, $4.80*] prevailed as the mutuel favorite under Isaac Castillo for trainer David Jacobson in a six-furlong claiming sprint for 3-year-olds and upward.
The Cobbler [No. 5, $95] put the boot to seven rivals in Race 5, posting a shocking 46-1 upset with Richard Mitchell at the helm for trainer Neville Henry in a claiming mile for 3-year-olds and up.
Jose Gomez guided the Rudy Rodriguez-trained Desert Dalliance [No. 6, $15.40] to victory in Race 6, a 6 1/2-furlong allowance sprint for fillies and mares one race before Luis Rivera, Jr. scored with Anileate [No. 4, $13.80] for trainer James Ferraro in a claiming mile for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.
Constitutionlawyer [No. 6, $24.40], with Dylan Davis up for trainer Ray Handal, outdueled Daydreaming Boy to capture the Race 8 feature, a one-mile allowance optional-claimer for 3-year-olds and up.
With the carryover already confirmed, Eric Cancel piloted the Linda Rice-trained Ain't Broke [No. 5, $13.80] to a dominant score in Race 9, a one-mile allowance optional-claimer for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.
Thursday's Pick 6 will kick off in Race 4 at 1:46 p.m. Eastern. First post for the nine-race card is 12:20 p.m.
America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.
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Kentucky Derby Winner Mage Retired To Airdrie Stud
Mage, this year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner, has been retired from racing and will begin his stallion career at Airdrie Stud for the 2024 breeding season.
Racing for the ownership group of OGMA Investments, LLC, CMNWLTH, Sterling Racing, LLC and Ramiro Restrepo and trained by the father-son team of Gustavo Delgado and Gustavo Delgado, Jr, Mage's victory in Kentucky Derby 149 stands as the highlight of a whirlwind 3-year-old campaign that saw him break his maiden in his racing debut on Jan. 28 and win the Derby in just his fourth career start less than 100 days later. In historical context, only Justify (2018) and Apollo (1882) won the Derby without the benefit of starting as a 2-year-old, and Mage matched Justify's record feat by winning the race having competed only three times previously.
Mage's defining win came on the heels of a narrow defeat at the hands of Juvenile Champion Forte in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and preceded a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational and third-place finish in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes. He retires as North America's leading 3-year old earner with more than $2,500,000 in 2023 earnings, a figure that trails only Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio amongst all North American runners.
The son of leading young sire Good Magic and Broodmare of the Year candidate Puca will stand his first season at an announced stud fee of $25,000.
“Mage has been a great blessing in our family's life,” said trainer Gustavo Delgado, Sr. “He was special for so many reasons and he gave all of us that were blessed to be associated with him the greatest days you could ever have in racing. He was so brilliantly talented and an incredible horse to work with as his mind and determination were as exceptional as his abilities. We were planning to have a Championship 4-year-old campaign with him, but our routine end-of-the-season scan revealed that he had the beginnings of a small issue that would require us to miss his early season goals. He has been so good to us and owes us nothing. It is time for him to begin his next career and we look forward to winning the big races with his sons and daughters in the years ahead. He will not be a good sire, he will be a GREAT sire.”
“It is an incredible privilege for our team to be able to bring Mage into the Airdrie stallion barn,” said Airdrie's Bret Jones. “To be able to stand a Kentucky Derby winner is so extremely special and we will always be grateful to the Delgado family and Mage's ownership group for giving us this opportunity. The great work they did with Mage really can't be overstated. Not only were they able to win the Kentucky Derby less than 100 days after his career debut, but I really believe they put together the strongest season that any three-year-old colt had this year. Mage retires as the leading three-year-old earner in America and has won or placed in four Grade 1 races this year- no other leading three-year-old has done that more than twice. He ran the highest dirt Beyer Speed Figure of any three-year-old beyond a mile and his 105 Beyer from the Derby is the highest of any winner in the last 15 years. He is a very special horse and, when combined with being by one of the hottest young sires in the world and out of a mare that has the look of being truly important, has all the credentials to be a very special stallion.”
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