Steady N Love wins the Caesar’s Wish. Photo by Laurie Asseo.
The Virginia Racing Commission met this morning in Richmond, and according to our Nick Hahn, who was present, not much transpired. That leaves racetrack operator Colonial Downs and the state’s horsemen without an agreement to govern the 2014 meet, slated to begin in June. With no agreement, there can be no meet.
At issue: the number of racing days and the number of weeks. At a mediation session last week, the track proposed to run just a six-day meet, far short of the horsemen’s preferred solution of 32 days over eight weeks. That session ended with no progress — arguably, with a loss of ground.
More on this story tomorrow…
Elsewhere, follwoing up on Friday’s On Tap column:
- Steady N Love proved best — after getting a surprisingly stiff test from long shot Aviddiva — in Saturday’s Caesar’s Wish (here) at Laurel, the only stake run in the region…
- Riding That Train, whose career debut was a respectable third behind undefeated Amherst Street and Comeonletsplay, who ran second to Amherst Street four times last year, made his return to the races a winning one at Charles Town. Running for the first time since July, the Ollie Figgins trainee settled off the pace in the 4 1/2 furlong event, then tipped outside and drove to a one-length win over first-time starter On Ghosts Wings. Running time was 53.34 seconds.
- We flagged Southern Celebrity, in Saturday’s fifth at Penn National, as providing a good chance to bet against a vulnerable favorite. We were about as wrong as we could be; for one thing, Southern Celebrity didn’t go off as the favorite — Dante’s Victory did. For another, Southern Celebrity finally broke through, breaking his maiden in his eleventh try with a one-length win over Thirteenth Avenue.
- At Parx Racing Zippity Goomba, a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of City Zip, notched her third straight win with an allowance score over state-bred foes on Sunday. Sent off at 8-5, she prevailed in a race-long duel with Spring Flower, who finished second. In the eighth, a first-level allowance, Wild Pantera rallied late to post a mild upset. Favored Chippette finished fourth, beaten less than two lengths.
