SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named actress and animal rights activist Bo Derek on Tuesday to a state commission overseeing horse racing.
Derek, 51, was appointed to fill one of two vacant posts on the California Horse Racing Board, a position requires confirmation by the state Senate and pays $100 per diem.
Derek is a horse lover who has lobbied Congress for the past five years to ban the slaughter of the animals. She also owns the pet care products company Bless the Beasts, which sells such items as dog shampoos, conditioner and fur polish.
She also wrote the book "Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses." Her Web site said the autobiography links her life lessons with her understanding of horses.
Bo Derek appointed to Calif. horse racing board....
BY ED McNAMARA
He didn't look bad, but he didn't look great. Finishing second making your turf debut in a Grade I would be a triumph for most horses. For Curlin, it was a disappointment, and his proposed trip to France is on hold.
The defending Horse of the Year never looked like a winner in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park yesterday, when he lost by two lengths to Red Rocks, winner of the 2006 Breeders' Cup Turf. Better Talk Now, who took the 2004 Turf, was third, a half-length farther back.
"Obviously, he didn't grab me like he normally does," jockey Robby Albarado said. "His acceleration was a little different. It wasn't an awful race, and he was up against it with two Breeders' Cup winners. I'd like to see him get another shot on the turf. It was like a first race for him, a new chapter. He felt comfortable over it. But to say that he loves it? Maybe next time will be his show-up race."
Curlin didn't have the best of trips, breaking a step slowly after hitting the gate and being four-wide down the backstretch and into the stretch. The 2-5 favorite stalked Red Rocks from fourth while Mission Approved and Sudan set a foolishly fast pace, with a quarter in 22.69 seconds and a half-mile in 47.62. Sudan and Mission Approved were still 1-2 after a mile in 1:35.9, but the battle clearly would be between Red Rocks and Curlin.
Curlin beaten at Belmont in his turf debut....
By Marty McGee
Daily Racing Form
Ron Geary, the owner of Ellis Park, said Wednesday night he is closing the 86-year-old track in Henderson, Ky., where a 44-day meet was scheduled to begin Friday.
Geary, who bought Ellis from Churchill Downs in September 2006, made the decision after a U.S. District Court judge in Owensboro, Ky., ruled Wednesday against his suit for an injunction to permit Ellis to offer account-deposit wagering on Ellis races.
Geary told the Louisville Courier-Journal on Wednesday night: "I don't have any plans on opening it again as a racetrack. That's for sure." A formal announcement was scheduled for Thursday morning at the track.
Officials with the Kentucky division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association said that they hoped to continue negotiating with Geary over the divisive ADW issue and that horsemen would suffer if Ellis remained closed. The meet was scheduled to run through Sept. 1.
Owner closes Ellis Park over dispute....
