News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by Thoroughbred Racing Communications, Inc. (TRC) (212.371.5911..)

LUKAS OUT OF DERBY?

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who a few days ago seemed to be without a Kentucky Derby starter, may start Prince Ahmed Salman's filly Sharp Cat in the May 3 Derby instead of the May 2 Kentucky Oaks against other fillies. 'The Prince himself has such a passion for the big events; nobody enjoys racing more than Prince Ahmed,' Lukas said. 'I think the voice of reason will probably be (Prince Ahmed's stable manager) Dick Mulhall. I have a tendency to roll the dice, especially when they're doing good. The thing that's warping my thinking is I've never seen this filly quite as good as I've got her right now.' Sharp Cat was sixth in the April 5 Santa Anita Derby in her first try against males.

If Lukas doesn't run Sharp Cat in the Derby, it will mark the first time since 1980 that the Run for the Roses will not have a Lukas trainee in the field. Lukas, who has had 31 Derby starters, started five horses last year, finishing first and third with Grindstone and Prince of Thieves, and had three entrants in 1995, running first and third with Thunder Gulch and Timber Country. In the 16 years Lukas has been sending horses to the Run for the Roses, he has had multiple-horse entries eight times. No other trainer has started five horses in the Derby, only James Rowe Sr. has started as many as four and five others have had three runners in a single year. None won.

Lukas-trained horses have won seven of the last nine Triple Crown races and he had a run of six straight Triple Crown race wins, starting with Tabasco Cat's triumph in the 1994 Preakness and ending with Grindstone's Derby win in 1996. (Nick Zito's Louis Quatorze took the 1996 Preakness but Lukas came back to win the Belmont with Editor's Note.) His best hope for this year's Derby was two-year-old champion and Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Boston Harbor, who was injured in February.

LONE STAR PARK OPENS WITH A BANG

The opening race at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, near Dallas, Texas, April 17 paid $101. The big payoff was indicative of big things to come for Thoroughbred racing's newest home. Opening day attendance day was 21,754, with another 1,500 at the adjacent Post Time Pavilion simulcasting center. A total of $1,435,274 was wagered on the nine-race card with a total of $2,731,892 bet on- and off-track on Lone Star's races.

Lone Star averaged 17,845 in attendance for its four-day opening weekend, with a high of 24,717 on Sunday, April 20, when the track held two $250,000 races, the Texas Mile, featuring Skip Away, the first champion to ever run in Texas, and the Lone Star Derby. Sunday's on-track handle was $1.7 million with a total of $5 million wagered on- and off-track.

'It was much greater and more successful than I anticipated,' said general manager Corey Johnsen. 'I would have never dreamed we would have done this well.'

CIGAR INSURANCE CLAIM TO BE PAID MAY 3

The $25 million claim against Cigar's infertility will be paid May 3, leaving the publicity rights to the horse as the only unsettled matter. The lead underwriter, Assicurazioni Generali, said that the rights are still owned by Allen Paulson, who sold a 75 percent share of the horse to Coolmore Stud. Under the terms of the insurance policy, Cigar needed to be bred to 20 mares twice and get at least 60 percent in foal. None of the 34 mares bred to the two-time Horse of the Year is in foal. Paulson has stated that, after the insurance matter is settled, that he would buy Cigar to 'provide a good home for the horse for the rest of his life.'

FULL-CARD SIMULCASTING COMES TO WASHINGTON

Governor Gary Locke signed a bill to permit full-card simulcasting in Washington, beginning April 30. The Washington Horse Racing Committee will meet the day before to set the rules. Each of the state's three tracks, Emerald Downs in Auburn, Yakima Meadows in Yakima and Playfair in Spokane, to import one full card on days when there is live racing and two full cards on dark days. When there is no meet, up to 12 hours of unrestricted simulcasting may take place. There may be no more than five days of simulcasting per week and none at satellite locations. Tracks receiving simulcasts must also offer any other live in-state racing.

RECORD HOLDER ATTICUS RETIRED

Atticus, who set a North American record for the mile when he ran the distance in 1:31.89 on the Santa Anita turf course March 1, has been retired after suffering a chip fracture in his right foreleg. Trainer Richard Mandella said that Atticus apparently was hurt during a work on April 18.

'He came out of his work walking a little funny,' Mandella said. 'We examined him and found the chip fracture in his inside right forelimb. It's really too bad; it looked like he had a bright future ahead of him.'

Atticus won seven races from 17 starts and earned $1,200,120 in the U.S., France and England

BARTON TO RECEIVE HONOR

The Louisville Thoroughbred Club has named jockey Donna Barton winner of its 1997 'Courage, Spirit, and Triumph Award' for career achievements and contributions to the Thoroughbred racing industry. Barton won 134 races last year with $4.5 million in earnings. She became a regular rider for trainer D. Wayne Lukas and won races with champions Boston Harbor, Serena's Song and Golden Attraction.

'Donna Barton is more than just a great jockey,' said Manny Cadima, president of the Louisville Thoroughbred Club. 'She is a role model and an inspiration to aspiring young people in all professions.'

Barton will receive the award April 26.

LOUIS QUATORZE SIDELINED AFTER BIG WIN

Louis Quatorze won his second race of 1997 with a win in the Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland by 13 lengths, April 23. The 1996 Preakness winner came back with a slight chip in the ankle of his left foreleg. Trainer Nick Zito said the colt will undergo surgery to remove the chip at Rood and Riddle equine clinic in Lexington, April 28, and will be sidelined for six weeks.

RACING TO HISTORY

April 30, 1941: Jockey Eddie Arcaro rode four winners out of five mounts at Jamaica racetrack before leaving for Churchill Downs to ride Whirlaway in the Kentucky Derby.

April 30, 1989: Bill Shoemaker won his 1,000th stakes race, guiding Charlie Whittingham-trained Peace to victory in the Premiere Handicap at Hollywood Park.

May 1, 1943: Count Fleet won the 'street car' Kentucky Derby, for which no tickets could be sold to out-of-town spectators due to wartime travel restrictions.

May 1, 1948: H.A. 'Jimmy' Jones, son of Ben A. Jones, stepped aside as the trainer of Citation, allowing his father to be named the colt's official trainer in the Kentucky Derby. Ben Jones was attempting to match the record of H.J. Thompson, who had trained four Derby winners. Citation did win and Ben A. Jones subsequently won two additional derbies, in 1949 and 1952, to set the mark for most number of wins in the Run for the Roses, six. Jimmy Jones was named as Citation's trainer in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, however, giving the Jones family a Triple Crown sweep.

May 1, 1971: The New York Off-Track Betting Corp. offered wagering pools on the Kentucky Derby, the first instance in which parimutuel wagering on the race took place outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Churchill Downs had refused to sell the rights to the race to OTB, but the pools were offered nonetheless, generating handle totaling $1,043,005.

May 1, 1976: Trainer Laz Barrera won three stakes in three different states: the Kentucky Derby with Bold Forbes; New York's Carter Handicap with Due Diligence and the Illinois Derby with Life's Hope.

May 1, 1993: Paul Mellon became the second person in racing history of have bred and owned winners of the Kentucky Derby (Sea Hero, who won the 1993 Derby) and the Epsom Derby (Mill Reef, who won in 1971). John Galbreath was the first to have accomplished the Derby double, which he did with Proud Clarion (1967 Kentucky Derby) and Roberto (1972 Epsom Derby).

May 2, 1904: Laska Durnell became the first woman to own a Kentucky Derby starter and winner when longshot Elwood took the 30th Run for the Roses. Elwood, the only Missouri-bred to win the Kentucky Derby, was also the first Derby winner to be bred by a woman, Mrs. J.B. Prather.

May 2, 1953: Native Dancer suffered his only defeat in 22 starts. He finished second in the Kentucky Derby as the 7-10 favorite, beaten a head by a 25-1 shot, Dark Star. Going into the Derby, Native Dancer had 11 consecutive wins.

May 2, 1970: Diane Crump became the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby. Her mount, Fathom, finished 15th in a field of 17.

May 2, 1973: In his last workout prior to the Kentucky Derby, Secretariat went five furlongs in 58 3-5.

May 2, 1981: The first simulcast of the Kentucky Derby took place, with three outlets-Centennial Park, Longacres Racecourse and Yakima Meadows-receiving the signal. Total simulcast wagering was $455,163. The Derby simulcast was suspended for the next two years, pending approval by Kentucky horsemen, and was reinstated in 1984.

RACING ON THE AIR

April 26, Racehorse Digest, 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN
April 26, Kentucky Derby Preview, 4:30-6:00 p.m., ABC
April 26, 2Day at the Races, 5:30-6:00 p.m., espn2
April 30, Racehorse Digest, 3:30-4:00 p.m., ESPN
April 30, Kentucky Derby Post-Position Draw, 5:00-6:00 p.m., ESPN
April 30, Kentucky Derby Post-Position Draw, 11:00-12:00 p.m., espn2
May 1, Racehorse Digest, 3:30-4:00 a.m., ESPN
May 2, Breakfast at Churchill Downs, 7:00 a.m.-noon, espn2
May 2, 2Day at the Kentucky Oaks, 3:30-5:00 p.m., espn2
May 2, Kentucky Oaks, Churchill Downs, 5:00-6:00 p.m., ESPN
May 2, Handicapping the Derby, 11:00-11:30 p.m., espn2
May 3, Racehorse Digest, 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN
May 3, Breakfast at Churchill Downs, 8:00 a.m.-noon, espn2
May 3, 2Day at the Kentucky Derby, noon-2:00 p.m., espn2
May 3, Kentucky Derby Special, 2:00-4:30 p.m., ESPN
May 3, Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, 4:30-6:00 p.m., ABC
Early Times Turf Classic, Churchill Downs
May 3, 2Day at the Kentucky Derby, 6:00-7:00 p.m., espn2

A Gleam Handicap, 3&up; (f&m;), $100,000, 7 Furlongs, Grade II, Hollywood

Derby Trial, 3yo, $100,000, 1 Mile, Grade III, Churchill

Excelsior Breeders' Cup Handicap, 3&up;, $200,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade II, Aqueduct

National Jockey Club Handicap, 4&up;, $200,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade III, Sportsman's Park

Columbiana Handicap, 3&up;, $75,000, 1 1-16 Miles Turf, Hialeah

National Jockey Club Oaks, 3yo fillies, $150,000, 1 Mile, Sportsman's Park

Vagrancy Handicap, 3&up; (f&m;), $100,000, 7 Furlongs, Grade III, Aqueduct

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