SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – If you’re looking for a talented 2-year-old to come out of Kentucky, trainer Steve Asmussen advises you pay attention to the six-furlong maiden race typically run late in the Churchill Downs spring meet.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bret Calhoun has only two horses stabled at Saratoga this summer, but he’s already captured one graded stakes during the meet and will be favored to win another Sunday, when he sends out the undefeated and untested Fiftyshadesofgold against six rivals in a very competitive renewal of the $200,000 Adirondack Stakes.
DEL MAR, Calif. − Garrett Gomez wasted no time in launching his comeback at Del Mar on Friday morning.
“I bounced out of bed,” he said.
Gomez, who has not ridden since July 14 after undergoing treatment for alcoholism in late July, worked two horses at Del Mar on Friday, a day after he received clearance from a doctor and approval from track stewards to resume activity. He was scheduled to resume riding Saturday.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – A full field of 14 horses, including defending champion Little Mike, was pre-entered Friday for the Aug. 17 Arlington Million.
The race is nicely balanced between North American- and overseas-based runners, with six horses shipping in from Europe, and eight U.S-based runners pre-entered.
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Eddie Plesa, Jr. enjoyed a one-two finish last weekend in the Tyro Stakes for 2-year-olds at Monmouth Park as Yes I’m Lucky bested Run for Logistics.
Plesa could do it again Sunday in the $60,000 Colleen Stakes, the companion event for fillies at five furlongs on the turf.
The Colleen is the prep for the meet’s top juvenile event for females, the $100,000 Sorority Stakes, a six-furlong dirt contest on Sept. 1.
AUBURN, Wash. – Mike Man’s Gold and Music of My Soul will take their budding rivalry to new lengths Sunday in the $65,000 Emerald Downs Derby when they headline a compact field of six horses, all attempting to navigate 1 1/8 miles for the first time. The 11-race card begins at 2 p.m. Pacific.
DEL MAR, Calif. − The goals with Tiz Flirtatious go well beyond Sunday’s $250,000 John Mabee Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Del Mar.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It is hard to separate the six horses running in an $8,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up that serves as Sunday’s feature at Hastings. The 1 1/8-mile race goes as race 7 on an eight-race card that begins at 1:50 p.m. Pacific.
Super Steve rates a big chance. Trained by Melanie Walters, Super Steve is 2 for 2 at the distance and will appreciate the added ground following a fifth-place finish in a $10,000 claiming race going 6 1/2 furlongs July 1.
A knee injury diagnosed in January left the 3-year-old Quarter Horse The August Heat sidelined for the first half of 2013. Fortunately for owner and breeder Bobby Cox of Fort Worth, Texas, the majority of the top 3-year-old races at Los Alamitos are in the later months of the year.
Sunday, The August Heat returns after a break of more than six months in a division of the Golden State Derby trials at 400 yards. The final, worth a projected $250,000, will be run Aug. 25.
