Horse Racing News on March 6, 2010

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.

Brutal winter weather and a brutal economy has translated into brutal betting figures on Thoroughbred racing in the U.S.

Even in the mornings, Life Is Sweet can be overshadowed by her undefeated stablemate Zenyatta.

With Rachel Alexandra pointed to return in next Saturday's New Orleans Ladies, the race is shaping up as an intimate affair, with five fillies or mares likely to run.

A shipper from Florida and a pair of fillies from Southern California have spiced up the Saturday stakes double at Oaklawn, where the Razorback Handicap and the Azeri will be run as preps for next month's Oaklawn Handicap and Apple Blossom Invitational.