SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Two uncoupled entries headline Sunday's $50,000-added Santa Teresa Handicap for fillies and mares going 6 1/2 furlong at Sunland Park. One of these seperate betting interests comes from the barn of America's leading trainer, Steve Asmussen, and the other ships in from Phoenix for trainer Dan Morgan.
ALBANY, Calif. - Turf racing at Golden Gate Fields usually means big fields and tight finishes, and Sunday's $125,000 Grade 3 Golden Gate Breeders' Cup Handicap should fit the model.
Nine will run the 1 1/8 miles on the Lakeside Turf Course in this meet's premier race for older horses.
While it is a solid field, only the Wally Dollase-trained Mananan McLir has a graded stakes victory in the U.S., the Grade 2 American Derby at Arlington in 2002.
Tronare, trained by Kristin Mulhall, was a Group 2 winner in his native Chile, but is looking for his first U.S. victory.
ALBANY, Calif. - Will lightning strike twice for Kristin Mulhall?
Last fall, she sent the Chilean-bred Mister Acpen to Bay Meadows, where he won the Grade 3 Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Handicap for his first U.S. stakes victory.
On Sunday, she sends the Chilean-bred Tronare to Golden Gate Fields to run in the Grade 3, $125,000 Golden Gate Breeders' Cup Handicap in search of his first U.S. win.
Roberto Gonzalez, who rode Mister Acpen to victory, will ride Tronare.
"He's been running well, and this looks like it could be the right spot for him," Mulhall said.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Halfbridled, the undefeated champion 2-year-old filly of 2003, has drawn the rail for her first start of the year in Saturday's $300,000 .
But it may take more than a tough post to prevent her from making a fifth trip to the winner's circle.
Owned by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, Halfbridled clinched her 2003 championship with a win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, overcoming an outside post in a field of 14 to score a convincing win.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Corey Nakatani received a 30-day suspension from Santa Anita stewards Thursday for causing interference that resulted in a spill in the sixth race March 6.
Nakatani was cited for a "wanton act that resulted in a racing accident," according to a one-page ruling signed by stewards Ingrid Fermin, Pete Pedersen, and Tom Ward.
The suspension covers racing from March 18 to April 28, but Nakatani said he would immediately launch an appeal. An appeal would allow Nakatani to continue riding until the case is heard.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - It has been a while since the Swale Stakes has had an impact on the Triple Crown series. Nick Zito hopes to change that this year.
Zito will have one eye on Kentucky and another on south Florida when he saddles Eurosilver in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Swale, a seven-furlong race that highlights the undercard on Florida Derby Day at Gulfstream Park.
, the Spectacular Bid winner who finished a troubled fourth in the Hutcheson. Saratoga County, Dashboard Drummer, and Caiman complete the field.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Todd Pletcher paid Madcap Escapade the highest compliment when he changed his original plan to run the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Ashado in Saturday's $150,000, Grade 3 Forward Gal Stakes, and instead shipped her to Louisiana where she easily captured the Fair Grounds Oaks.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - There are three trainers with a chance to win both the Florida Derby and Swale Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, a feat accomplished by Bobby Frankel last year. While Todd Pletcher and Nick Zito will garner most of the attention, don't be stunned if it's Marty Wolfson who steals the show.
Wolfson, based at Calder, will send out Sir Oscar in the $1 million Florida Derby and Wynn Dot Comma in the $150,000 Swale. Neither will be favored, but both are serious contenders.
