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Grants Pass Downs Generates Record Handle On Opening Day Card

El Alto Hombre swept past Pure Pursuit into the stretch and rolled to a 2 ¼-length victory Monday in the inaugural running of the $12,000 Caveman Stakes for 3-year-olds and up on opening night at Grants Pass Downs.

Ridden by Jose Figueroa at 126 lbs, El Alto Hombre ran five furlongs in :58.45 seconds and paid $9.20 as the second choice in the wagering.

Trained by Liz Kowalski and owned by Anthony Hoover, El Alto Hombre delivered an emotional victory for his connections Monday. David Hoover, trainer of El Alto Hombre and brother of the owner, died last week following a training accident and the horse was transferred to Kowalski's care.

“I spoke to David the day before he passed away and I entered the horse on his wishes,” Kowalski said. “It's not the way you wish to gain a horse, but I am immensely proud to have this horse.”

A 6-year-old Kentucky-bred by Archarcharch, El Alto Hombre earned $6,600 for the victory and is 10-11-4 in 30 career starts with earnings of $51,148. His Grants Pass record is 5-7-1 from 15 starts, including a second in the Oregon Caves Stakes last June.

In the Caveman, El Alto Hombre settled in third behind dueling leaders Pure Pursuit and Desalut, as those two blazed through an opening quarter mile in :21.63 seconds. Pure Pursuit won the pace battle, shaking off Desalut after a half-mile in :45.42, but El Alto Hombre would not be denied. The winner gathered momentum on the last turn, collared Pure Pursuit into the lane and drew off to win with authority.

Pure Pursuit, ridden by Patrick Henry Jr., held second, and Golden Cowboy, ridden by Taylor Smith, finished third. Count Alexei, the 5 to 2 favorite, finished fourth and was followed by Molaf, Pulpits Power, Chill, Dusalut, Keyson and Capes Hot Rocket.

On-track attendance was 735 and the total handle of $461,959 established a record for an eight-race program at Grants Pass Downs.

NOTES: Heavily favored Hey Sequoia ($2.80) rallied under Mckenzie King to capture the 2021 spring/summer meet opener for owner Leon Scott and trainer Quinn Howey, running the 1 1/16 miles in 1:50 flat. The 6-year-old British Columbia-bred is now three for four lifetime at Grants Pass Downs and was claimed Monday for $4,000 by owner Al Peterson and trainer Jorge Rosales. . .Fiesty Town Lady ($43.60) scored off a 30-month layoff in race five, leading gate to wire under Jose Guerrero in 1:00.35 for five furlongs. A 7-year-old Washington-bred mare owned by Brenda Ibarra and trained by Diego Guerrero, Fiesty Town Lady's previous start was November 6, 2018 at Portland Meadows. . . Fiesty Town Lady and sixth race winner Wishful One ($23) helped produce a mammoth $15,981.20 payout to one winning ticket in the $0.50 Pick 4. . . Guerrero and Eduardo Gutierrez-Sosa rode two winners each on the eight-race card. . .10-year-old Aotearoa ($7), winner of Monday's eighth race, won the 2013 Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita and finished seventh in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. . .Oregon-breds won both Quarter Horse races—Chumbley ($6.20) clicking under Gutierrez-Sosa in race two and No Juans Fool ($4.20) scoring his maiden victory under Joree Scriver in race three. . .The 2021 spring/summer meet continues Tuesday with an eight-race program at 5:15 p.m.

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Record Handle at Sam Houston During Houston Racing Festival

Sam Houston Race Park set a record for handle during its 10-race Houston Racing Festival card Sunday, Jan. 31. Besides the $300,000 GIII Houston Ladies Classic S. and $200,000 GIII John B. Connally Turf Cup S., the fixture also featured the $200,000 Texas Turf Mil S., $100,000 Pulse Power Turf Sprint S., the $75,000 Stonerside Sprint S. and the $75,000 Jersey Lilly Turf S. A record total of $5.3 million was wagered at the Houston-area track.

“We are thrilled with the success of this year's Houston Racing Festival and setting a record handle of $5.3 million,” said Frank Hopf, Senior Director of Racing. “It was a team effort from everyone at Sam Houston and our thanks go out to all the horsemen and owners for supporting our meet. This would not be possible without our horseplayers, both here in Texas and nationally. It was a great day.”

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Houston Racing Festival Celebrates Record Handle Of $5.3 Million

While the Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic and the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf may have attracted the greatest interest from the media and the national racing audience, there were impressive performances in the four Houston Racing Festival undercard stakes. The Houston Racing Festival 10-race card set a handle record for the track with $5.3 million wagered.

In the day's running of the $200,000 Texas Turf Mile, Palazzi emerged as the photo finish winner of the one-mile turf route to win his stakes debut. The 3-year-old Pioneerof the Nile colt stalked from mid-pack and closed swiftly in the stretch to defeat a full field of ten with a time of 1:36.89.

Palazzi is owned by Mark Oxley and trained by Mark Casse; Declan Carroll had the call on the colt for the first time.

'I have to thank Mark Casse and Mr. Oxley; it was huge,” said Carroll, who is the son of David Carroll. “The horse was training well and gained a lot of confidence at Fair Grounds. I was in a beautiful position, saved ground all the way, relaxed nicely and kicked home.”

With two wins in six career starts, Palazzi ($7.00) has earned $158,520 and is undefeated on the turf after breaking his maiden in his most recent start at the Fair Grounds.

“This horse came to Fair Grounds after his debut at Keeneland,” said Shane Tripp, who saddled for Casse. “A lot of the credit goes to David Carroll and his wife, Kim, as Palazzi really got comfortable and won his last [on December 19]. Declan saved ground and finished well on him today. We ran Jack and Noah in this race last year and think it's a great race for these 3-year-old turf horses.”

Excess Magic finished a nose behind Palazzi in second place for trainer Bret Calhoun with Miguel Mena aboard. Longshot Dyn O Mite threatened and led briefly in the stretch before finishing third. Fighting Force, Catman, Texas Bad Boy, Flash of Mischief, Bobby Brinkley, Red N Wild and Invincibility completed the order of finish.

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Remington’s Handle Exceeds $100 Million, Up 31.8 Percent In 2020

Remington Park set an all-time pari-mutuel handle record in the 2020 Thoroughbred Season, concluded earlier this week. The 66-day session yielded total handle exceeding $100 million for the first time in the track's 32-year history.

All sources handle on Remington Park racing reached $101,313,352, an increase of 31.8 percent over the 2019 total of $76,885,108. The 2020 season marks the fourth consecutive Thoroughbred meeting of increased total handle for Remington Park.

The increase of $25,620,002 is a direct result of Remington Park's ability to safely continue a normal racing schedule throughout the pandemic year of 2020.

Remington Park conducted 66 Thoroughbred race dates, one fewer than 2019. The track also managed to reschedule three of the four postponed dates due to winter weather, and conduct 610 races, six more than the 2019 total. The Thoroughbred schedule extended to Dec. 22, the deepest run into the final month of the year in track history.

Horseplayers around the world responded to the reliability of Remington Park with export handle hitting $99,092,575 for an increase of 34.9 percent over the 2019 export handle figure of $73,472,573.

Remington Park's lone off-track wagering location, Thunder Roadhouse in Oklahoma City, wagered $230,854, 18 percent higher than the 2019 total of $195,661.

Due to safety protocols, Remington Park limited on-site attendance availability to only the ground, or track, level on live race dates. The smaller crowds wagered $1,989,923 which was down 38.1 percent from the 2019 on-track wagering of $3,216,874.

Average field size for the 2020 season was 8.62 with a total of 5,261 horses starting. The average is a decrease of one percent from the 2019 average of 8.71 per race when 5,259 horses competed.

Horsemen competed for total purses of $14,047,536 over the 66 dates, for an average daily amount of $212,841. The 2020 purse numbers are 17.2 percent lower compared to the 2019 total purses of $16,971,799. This year's purse amounts were affected by the shutdown of the Remington Park casino for two months in the spring.

Remington Park live racing will return on March 4 with the start of the 2021 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season.

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