Noted: July 12
– Lava Man ran an impressive 120 Beyer speed figure for his Gold Cup win. The number puts him in the company of Ghostzapper (122 in the Met Mile) and Bellamy Road (120 in the Wood Memorial), and is a slight improvement on his last start, in which he ran a 116 (Daily Racing Form). Also: Lost in the Fog continued to improve, running a career-high 116 in the Carry Back Stakes.
– This year’s Virginia Derby could be “the best we’ve had,” said Colonial Downs general manager John Mooney. English Channel, winner of the Colonial Turf Cup, is entered along with 10 others in the Grand Slam of Grass’ second leg (Daily Press).
– The first ever Peruvian All-Stars day at River Downs is declared a success. “A larger-than-usual Monday crowd turned out to see the jockeys, donate money for autographed photos, bid on silent auction items and get treated to some Belmont-like racing.” The event was organized to showcase graduates of the Jockey School of Peru, such as Edgar Prado and Rafael Bejarano, and to raise money for the school (Lexington Herald-Leader).
– Over on the Derby List, there’s been quite a bit of talk about the Phoenix Trotting Park, which was open for two seasons in the mid-1960s and has sat abandoned since. All that’s left is the striking modern architecture grandstand; a trailer park sits where the backside once did. Some very cool photos of the ghost track have been linked to from the list, including this set of images showing the exterior and interior from first floor to skybox, and these three nighttime pictures.
