Not for Silver stretched his unbeaten streak to three, rallying for a 1 length win over Wildcat Brief Sunday in the $69,850 Fred Cappy Caposella Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.

Having easily won his first two races at Laurel, Not for Silver delivered another strong effort in his stakes debut. Ramon Dominguez guided the colt into contention with a three-wide move turning for home and they steadily advanced to the front.

It went great, said Dominguez, the Big As leading rider who was aboard Not for Silver for the first time. What a wonderful horse to ride. Hes very professional for a young horse like this.

Not for Silver, trained by Michael Trombetta, earned $41,910 for owner Ted Julio. The time was 1:10.38 for the six furlongs over the fast track.

The even-money favorite paid $4, $3.10 and $2.30. Wildcat Brief returned $4.70 and $3.60. The Prince paid $3 to show.

Pop Artist was fourth followed by Smokin Hero and Gabriels Smile.

General Consensus defeated Shes a Real Keeper by three-quarters of a length to win the $55,920 feature for fillies and mares at Santa Anita on Thursday.

Ridden by Alex Solis, General Consensus covered one mile on the turf in 1:36.95 and paid $16, $6.80 and $4.60. Shes a Real Keeper returned $5.40 and $3.80, while Comeback Queen was another three-quarters of a length back in third and paid $3.60 to show.

The victory, worth $31,200, increased General Consensus career earnings to $89,914, with two wins in eight starts.

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Breeders Cup-Purses story

In a Feb. 4 story about Breeders Cup purses, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Breeders Cup stakes program purses will remain at their current level of $25.5 million. The figure applies to Breeders Cup World Championships purses, not the stakes program.

Kentucky Derby hopeful Vineyard Haven faded in the stretch and finished fourth behind stablemate Desert Party in Thursdays UAE 2000 Guineas, the gray colts 3-year-old debut for new owner Sheik Mohammed.

Vineyard Haven, a top 2-year-old who won the Hopeful Stakes and the Champagne Stakes, was purchased for a reported $12 million in November and sent to Dubai to train for the Derby in Louisville, Ky., on May 2.

But it was Desert Party, a winner over Vineyard Haven in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga last July, who did it again in the 1-mile race at Nad al Sheba. Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Desert Party took charge and pulled away for a 4 3/4 -length win over Regal Ransom, also owned by the sheiks Godolphin Racing.

I am disappointed with Vineyard Haven, trainer Saeed bin Suroor said. He did not show up well this morning, and we were hoping he will be better this evening. That was not the case.

He added he was delighted by Desert Partys effortthe bay colts fourth win in five career starts. Desert Party has a 2-1 record over Vineyard Haven, having finished sixth to him in the Hopeful.

Vineyard Haven, previously owned and trained by Bobby Frankel, got off to a quick start under Ted Durcan but never challenged for the lead on a windy night of racing.

Redding Colliery was third in the Group 3 race.

Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams were yesterday charged with serious breaches of the Rules of Racing that could see both jockeys suspended for lengthy periods. Together with Karl Burke, the Middleham trainer, Lynch and Williams face sanction over their provision of inside information to the former racehorse owner, Miles Rodgers.

The case brought by the British Horseracing Authority comes five years after the alleged offences, and more than a year after the Old Bailey trial in which the two jockeys – along with Kieren Fallon – were acquitted of race-fixing when the judge dismissed evidence against them.

Lynch also faces the more serious charge of stopping a horse in August 2004, and another of placing bets through Rodgers on 15 occasions. All three men are also charged to have obstructed or misled the BHA’s inquiry. Rodgers, who was warned off by the BHA in April 2004, is charged with acting corruptly with the information he received for financial gain.

The BHA’s inquiry into the men’s activities was well under way before the City of London Police elected to press charges through the courts. But when that case collapsed in December 2007, racing’s ruling authority was kept waiting for legal documents without which it could not conclude its investigation.
It also assessed evidence that came to light in a television documentary in which Fallon featured. However, in contrast to those charged yesterday, Fallon, who is serving an 18-month ban for failing a drugs test, was not required to answer BHA charges.

There are a number of important differences between the two cases, Paul Struthers, the BHA’s media relations manager, said. Kieren Fallon fully co-operated throughout the investigation into his behaviour, unlike Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams. He admitted that he had behaved contrary to the Rules, unlike those charged today.

Williams rode a winner for Burke yesterday when Electric Warrior triumphed at Lingfield. It was his third victory of the year. Lynch abandoned his career in Britain last year to continue riding in the US. No date has yet been set for the hearing.

At Leopardstown on Sunday, Willie Mullins intends to run both of his nascent stars, Hurricane Fly and Cousin Vinny, in the Deloitte Novices’ Hurdle over 2 miles. The trainer had planned to keep them apart but disruptive weather has prompted a rethink.

Hurricane Fly and Cousin Vinny feature prominently in betting on the novice races at the Cheltenham Festival, where Master Minded is frightening off the opposition in the Champion Chase. Just 19 horses advanced yesterday to the two-mile test but many of them hold preferred engagements.

Bigger fields are expected in the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle after 28 and 29 horses stood their ground respectively. Or Noir De Somoza, the talented chaser who joined David Pipe’s stable last year, has returned to France and will not run at Cheltenham.

Caprice raced to her first victory in seven US starts, beating Restless Soul by 1 3/4 lengths Wednesday in the $75,150 La Zanzara Handicap for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Caprice ran 1 1/2 miles on the turf course in 2:29.97 and paid $8.20, $3.60 and $2.60. Restless Soul returned $4.80 and $3.20, and Brushed Gold paid $2.20 to show.

Caprice rallied from last in the field of six to win for the first time since taking a turf race in France in 2007. The German-bred mare earned $44,850 for her third career victory to raise her total to $123,351.

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Salt Water Reign wins Big A feature

Salt Water Reign unleashed a strong stretch rally to beat Motor City Mama by 1 lengths Wednesday in the $47,000 allowance feature for fillies and mares at Aqueduct.

The 5-year-old ridden by Rosie Napravnik won her second straight race, improving to 5-for-16 overall. Trained by Maryland-based Steve Klesaris, Salt Water Reign ran the six furlongs in 1:11.32 on the fast track.

Salt Water Reign paid $15, $5.40 and $6. Motor City Mama returned $15.60 and $13.40. Pu Dew paid $5.10 to show.

Denman’s withdrawal from the John Smith’s Grand National has ushered in the most open renewal for years as punters struggle to unearth blots on yesterday’s publication of the handicap for the Aintree showpiece on April 4.

There were few takers after Phil Smith, the BHA’s head of handicapping, unveiled a set of weights that served principally to antagonise Irish trainers. Beyond that, precious few were tempted by totesport’s offer of 14-1 about the joint-favourites, Butler’s Cabin and Hear The Echo, trained respectively by Jonjo O’Neill and Mouse Morris.

Butler’s Cabin, the possible mount of Tony McCoy, was described by O’Neill as a horse who hasn’t had a fantastic time this season, while Morris felt that Hear The Echo’s chance had been compromised. He seems very badly handicapped to me, Morris said.

Morris also has War Of Attrition, the 2006 Gold Cup winner, engaged at Aintree. The horse lends a touch of class to a race shorn of Denman. But the unveiling of the weights in London yesterday highlighted that Denman’s trainer, Paul Nicholls, has revised his approach to winning a race that still eludes his grasp.
On the corresponding day last year Nicholls recoiled when he saw the weight allotted to Mr Pointment, a winner earlier in the season of the Becher Chase over the National fences. He duly took notice. My Will and Big Fella Thanks are his front-line candidates from a nine-strong entry and each has been campaigned with the Grand National in mind.

My Will had been off for 18 months when he finished fifth in the Hennessy, Nicholls said. I was gobsmacked with how well he ran. We have deliberately not run him since and he will probably go for the Gold Cup beforehand.

Equally interesting is Big Fella Thanks, despite his novice status. While first-season chasers have not excelled at Aintree, Nicholls said: You need a well-handicapped horse to win the National these days. Big Fella Thanks is improving and will run in the Racing Post Chase at Kempton on February 21 before Aintree.

Big Fella Thanks runs for Paul Barber and Harry Findlay, the owners of Denman, and Nicholls has revised his thoughts on the latter’s comeback run at Kempton on Saturday. The more I think of it, the more he might have been fooling me, the trainer said. Perhaps we took it a little too easy with him because of his heart condition. He’s hard to assess at home. Last year I thought he’d need his run in the Hennessy and he turned out to be pretty straight. We’ll work and work him to get him ready for the Gold Cup, but it may be that he’ll only come back to his best after another summer at grass. He had a lot of time off with that heart problem.

The David Pipe-trained Madison Du Berlais, Denman’s conqueror at Kempton, has been allotted 11st 8lb at Aintree. He will first contest the Gold Cup but, whatever his fate, Pipe will be represented at Aintree by last year’s winner, Comply Or Die. The horse has disappointed this term but Pipe said: He showed a lot of improvement when we put blinkers on and we hope it will be the same this year.

King Johns Castle, runner-up to Comply Or Die at Aintree, could reappear at Leopardstown on Sunday. His trainer, Arthur Moore, felt 10st 10lb was fair but Willie Mulllins was incensed that Snowy Morning, third last year, had been given 11st. I think my horse is harshly treated, Mullins said. He Smith hasn’t taken this year’s form into account. The horse has lost his form but it is my job to turn the horse around in the next six weeks.

However, Mullins was more positive about Irish Invader’s weight of 10st 1lb. He will love the track and the expected good ground, Mullins said of the 50-1 shot. I hope he makes the cut – I’d love to take him to Aintree.

Phil Smith, the senior handicapper, spent the first hour of Kempton’s raceday stuck in a lift. He might still have been feeling disorientated later, as he wondered how he would reframe his Grand National weights after seeing Denman finish 23 lengths behind a horse officially 19lb inferior.

Smith must present his National handicap tomorrow and it will have been a fiendish challenge. Denman’s entry, according to Paul Nicholls, intimates a serious possibility of running but how much weight should he now concede to Madison Du Berlais?

This was among the issues that brought a wry smile to David Pipe’s features – though only after he had basked in the contentment of a stunning 36th birthday present. Pipe had quietly fancied Madison Du Berlais to win the Hennessy Gold Cup but taking on Denman was a different matter.

I’m very surprised by the manner of it, he conceded. We couldn’t have expected that but he’s a real battler and he grinds it out in front. He’s still got to up his game in the Gold Cup but he’ll have to go there now. We had planned on the National but I’m not sure that will have done his mark much good.

Madison Du Berlais is now as short as 5-1 for the Gold Cup and Victor Chandler slashed him from 33-1 to 14-1 for the National. Sadly, one horse that will not be heading to Aintree is Joe Lively, who faces several months out after striking into a tendon during Saturday’s race.

Tom Scudamore caused offence in some quarters by turning and gesturing to the distant Denman as he passed the line on Madison Du Berlais but the jockey was unrepentant yesterday. You’ve got to have a sense of humour about these things, he said. I couldn’t believe how far behind he was.

The body was upright, the head held high and the right arm aloft but the smile spoke volumes. Tony McCoy reached his 3,000th winner over jumps at Plumpton yesterday, in the process transforming what would otherwise have been a day as perverse as the weather.

A stampede developed for the winner’s enclosure as McCoy drove the Nicky Henderson-trained Restless D’Artaix home on an afternoon when horses resembled jet skis on the rain-lashed surface. Punters fled the sanctuary of the bars to hail the master as McCoy, ghost-like and gaunt of face, responded with a rare public display of emotion.

I feel privileged to ride 3,000 winners but I don’t intend to stop now, he said. From day one I always wanted to ride as many winners as possible. It has taken a lot of falls and a lot of hard work. It is not something I would ever play down.
Fittingly, McCoy reached the landmark at the sort of venue where he has posted the vast majority of his winners. It was a filthy day, one in which the strongest thrive. At its close McCoy had bagged the brace he needed to avoid another potentially frustrating spell of weather-induced inactivity. It was almost too close for comfort.

Needing one more winner for the magic number and partnering Miss Sarenne on his penultimate ride, McCoy luxuriated in two lengthy looks behind as his mount approached the final flight in splendid isolation. However, Miss Sarenne’s front legs crumpled on landing, pitching her nose into the ground and McCoy clean over her head.

The jockey appeared inconsolable. His eyes never left the ground as he trudged the long walk back to the weighing room, having fasted for two days to make the weight. I got down to 10st 4lb and then that happens, he reflected later, but I always thought Restless D’Artaix in the last was my best chance of the day. Not for the first time, his judgment was vindicated.

No jumps jockey comes close to McCoy’s litany of records. He was quickest to 1,000 winners and quickest to 2,000 by the fact that no jockey before him ever reached that total. Yet he remains underwhelmed, almost as if he is not cognisant of what he has achieved.

I am very lucky, he offered. I have a good agent in Dave Roberts and the ideal job with J.P. McManus, but this is not something to take lightly. It will probably be hard for someone to pass my total but records are there to be broken. Nothing is impossible. I’m sure someone will come along who rides more winners than me.

Darkness had enveloped McCoy by the time he returned from weighing in to take the plaudits. After spraying the obligatory champagne – as a teetotaller, he had little desire to take it home – he obliged every autograph request despite standing in the deluge. To see him like this was to recognise just how fortunate racing is to have him in its ranks.

Hopefully, one day, someone will be able to say that I have been an all right jockey, he said, almost apologetically. I’m delighted for my mum and dad, who have been very supportive.

The secret, he maintained, was simple. To be successful in any job you have to enjoy it. Then it doesn’t seem like work.

It has taken McCoy, 34, five years to ride his last 1,000 winners, which is remarkable for one whose natural weight and height are at odds with the ideal riding physique. He talked about riding for the next ten years – that’s a joke, by the way, – but was unwilling to admit that too much else was beyond him.

Is 4,000 winners realistic, he was asked? I don’t see why not.

Jayne Vaders, a perennial leading trainer at Philadelphia Park, had her license revoked as of Jan 24 after a court affirmed the revocation by the state racing commission last year.

The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission revoked Vaders’s license in April last year, citing multiple postrace drug positives in horses she trained. Vaders appealed and was granted a stay, but the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on Jan. 9 upheld the commission’ decision.

Jorge Augusto, the assistant counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said that Vaders was allowed to train until Jan. 24 so that she could transfer her horses to other trainers and “get her affairs in order.”

Vaders saddled her last horse at Philadelphia on Jan. 21.

The revocation stemmed from a positive post-race drug test from a horse trained by Vaders in 2007. Stewards at the track had previously warned Vaders that her license was in danger of being revoked under a statute that allows racing authorities to take the action for two or more medication violations in one 12-month period.

Because racing states recognize rulings in other states, Vaders cannot currently start horses in any other state.

Halsey Minor, the Internet entrepreneur who has been attempting to purchase Hialeah Park, filed a lawsuit on Monday in the Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County in Florida seeking a declaratory judgment on the city of Hialeah’s 2004 decision to transfer the deed of the track to its current owner, John Brunetti.

The lawsuit, which was also filed by the non-profit group Save Hialeah Racing Inc., contends that the city violated the terms of an agreement with Brunetti and the city’s charter when it transferred the deed to Brunetti. The lawsuit asks the circuit court to rule on the legality of the sale, in an attempt to get the track back under city ownership.

Hialeah Park has been closed since 2001. Brunetti purchased the track in 1977, and shortly thereafter reached a lend-purchase agreement with the city that transferred the property to the city but allowed Brunetti to repurchase the track for a nominal fee after 30 years. The lend-purchase agreement was approved by the city’s voters in a referendum that year.

The lawsuit claims that Brunetti failed to comply with terms of the agreement because the track did not hold live race meets during the term of the agreement and because Brunetti did not maintain the property in “the same condition as on the day the lease agreement was signed.” The suit also states that the city charter prohibits the transfer of city assets without a referendum.

Minor, who has said that he wants to restore live racing to the track, held discussions with Brunetti last year on the sale of Hialeah Park, but the discussions failed to produce any agreement.