Horse racing on TV: NBC, Fox Sports feature Oaklawn's stakes
NBC will continue its partnership this weekend with TVG, simulcasting 12 hours of racing coverage on NBC Network.
Meanwhile, Fox Sports and the New York Racing Association will air 11 hours of racing from Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday and Sunday, including two stakes races.
NBCSN will show TVG's Trackside Live on Friday, Saturday and Sunday form 4 to 8 p.m. ET.
Here's the schedule for America's Day at the Races from Fox and the New York Racing Association:
Saturday, April 25
1:30 - 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
Sunday, April 26
1:30-2:30 p.m. ET (FS2)
2:30 - 6:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
6:30 - 7 p.m. ET (FS2)
Saturday's Fox broadcast will be highlighted by Oaklawn's $125,000 Carousel, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 4 years old and up; along with the $100,000 Bachelor, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds.
Grade 1 winners Bellafina and Mia Mischief co-headline a talented eight-horse Carousel field. Trained by Simon Callaghan and with Joe Talamo set to ride for the first time, Bellafina is a three-time Grade 1-winner with scores in the Del Mar Debutante and Chandelier at Santa Anita in 2018 in her juvenile season, along with a 5 1/4-length romp last April in the Santa Anita Oaks.
The 4-year-old Quality Road bay will be making her seasonal debut from the inside post while traveling six furlongs for the first time since her stylish maiden score in the Grade 2 Sorrento in August 2018 at Del Mar.
Stonestreet Stables' Mia Mischief, trained by Steve Asmussen and to be guided from the outside post by Ricardo Santana Jr., won the Grade 1 Humana Distaff in May at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old Into Mischief bay, who was second in last year's Carousel contested on a sloppy track, boasts a record of three wins and two seconds in five starts at Oaklawn Park, including a last-out win on March 20 in an optional-claiming sprint in her seasonal debut.
The Bachelor drew a field of nine led by Grade 1 winner Eight Rings, who will sprint six furlongs in his seasonal debut. Trained by Bob Baffert and to be piloted by Joel Rosario for the first time, the 3-year-old Empire Maker colt sprinted to victory at first asking in August at Del Mar. After losing his rider in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, Eight Rings romped to a six-length victory in the Grade 1 American Pharoah on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita. He completed his campaign with an off-the-board effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
On NBCSN, Gulfstream's Saturday card will feature the newly added $75,000 Unbridled Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on dirt.
Trainer Todd Pletcher sends talented maiden winner Dr. Post to the gate for owners St. Elias Stable LLC.
Attachment Rate will be making his first start since finishing third in last month's Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct for trainer Dale Romans.
Soros will come into the race second off the layoff, having missed the board March 27 in an allowance optional claiming race for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.
And trainer Mark Hennig has a recent allowance winner, Americanus, stretching out around two turns for the first time.