Watch and Wager Saturday on Santa Anita Derby, Wood and Blue Grass
Florida Racing Loses a Friend in Herb Elkins
Herb Elkins, who owned and raced horses in Florida for 30 years, passed away last week at the age of 91.
Elkins and his wife, Ione, owned or co-owned a number of stakes winners, most trained by Bill Kaplan. Those stakes winners included Seacliff, who swept the 1995 Florida Sire Stakes (formerly Stallion Stakes), Fortune Pending, who won the 1994 My Dear Girl Division of the Sire Stakes, Calder track-record holder Castlebrook, the stakes winner Ravensmoor and Goldarama, second in the 1994 Virginia Handicap (G3).
“He was a tremendously loyal owner who was always willing to invest in horses and the sport,” Kaplan said. “He was a one-of-a-kind owner, and he meant a lot to Florida Racing.”
Elkins, a former board member of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA) and the owner of State Paving Corporation, is survived by his wife and five children.
Watch and Wager on Saturday's Santa Anita Derby, Wood and Blue Grass
Along with Saturday’s $60,000 Orange Blossom Stakes, featuring Grade I stakes-placed Little Alexis, Gulfstream will be the place to watch and wager on three $1 million prep races for the Triple Crown.
Champagne Stakes (G1) winner Daredevil, El Kabeir and Lambholm South Holy Bull (G2) runner-up Frosted lead a field of six in the Wood Memorial (G1) at Aqueduct. Carpe Diem is the even-money favorite in the Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland and, at Santa Anita, undefeated Dortmund leads a field of six in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby.
First race post at Gulfstream Saturday is 1 p.m.