Day 28
TODAY’S CLASSIX CARRYOVER None TODAY’S WAGERING MENU Win-placeshow, exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagering offered on all races. Daily double (races 1-2, 8-9). CLASSIX (races 3-8). Pick-3 (rolling begins with race 2). Pick-4 (races 2-5 races 6-9).
TODAY’S SIMULCASTING SCHEDULE 11:30 a.m. Laurel Park, Noon Gulfstream Park, 12:20 p.m. Aqueduct, 1:25 p.m. Fair Grounds, 2:45 p.m. Golden Gate, 3 p.m. Santa Anita, 5 p.m. Penn National, 5:50 p.m. Delta Downs, 6:05 p.m. Charles Town.
NO DECISION YET
Director of Racing David Longinotti said no decision about today’s card will be made until this morning. At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday it was 37 degrees with light rain in Hot Springs. The rain was forecast to turn into sleet or snow after 7 p.m., with lows forecast to bottom out at 21 degrees early this morning. Today’s high is projected to reach 36, with sunshine and a zero percent chance precipitation after 7 a.m.
HONEYBEE
Juvenile filly champion Take Charge Brandi was not entered for Saturday’s $150,000 Grade III Honeybee Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, with Take Charge Brandi’s owner Willis Horton of Marshall opting to take a shot at the boys in the Grade II $750,000 Rebel Stakes on March 14. That leaves the Honeybee as a matchup between Martha Washington runner-up Sarah Sis and the undefeated Promise Me Silver, who is 6 for 6, including a victory in the Dixie Belle Stakes on opening day at Oaklawn. A field of nine has been entered to go 1 1/16 miles in the Honeybee, which is part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks series of races that award points toward a starting berth in the Oaks on May 1 at Churchill Downs. The Honeybee will give the winner 50 points, second-place receives 20, third earns 10 and fourth place gets five. Promise Me Silver beat Sara Sis by a neck in the 6-furlong Dixie Belle. Trainer Bret Calhoun shipped Promise Me Silver to Sam Houston Park for a 9 ¾ -length victory in the Feb. 14 Two Altazano Stakes. Sarah Sis took on Take Charge Brandi in the Martha Washington, losing by a head. Three of the other seven entrants Saturday are stakes placed. Pangburn, a Feb. 20 allowance winner at Oaklawn, has a second-place finish in the Sept. 6 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs on her resume. Speedy Super Saks, an 11-length maiden winner Jan. 30, finished third behind Promise Me Silver and Sarah Sis in the opening-day Dixie Belle. Indian Annie, trained by Steve Asmussen, finished third behind Take Charge Brandi and Sarah Sis in the Martha Washington. The others — Desert Valley, Bootsy’s Girl and Purr — are recent maiden winners. Oceanwave won an allowance/optional claimer Jan. 22.
HOT SPRINGS
A field of seven has been entered in the $100,000 Hot Springs Stakes, scheduled to be run at 6 furlongs two races before the Honeybee on Saturday. It is scheduled to go off as the sixth race. Gentlemen’s Bet, who recently returned from a 15-month layoff to run third in an allowance race, takes on two-time meet winner Ivan Fallunovalot. Gentleman’s Bet is best known for a thid-place finish in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Ivan Fallunovalot is coming a 2 ¾ -length victory in the Feb. 7 King Cotton Stakes on Jan. 22.