The Massachusetts Handicap is back on the Suffolk Downs schedule after a year's hiatus and highlights an open stakes schedule worth $860,000. The race was not run last year as part of schedule changes made in New England under which Suffolk raced a longer season. With a reduced 2004 season, to begin May 1 and run through Nov. 30, Suffolk officials were able to bring back the Grade 2 race, scheduled for May 29.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Competitive fields and a steady supply of longshots have made this a winter of discontent for chalk players at Aqueduct's inner-track meet, and things don't get much easier in the first leg of Friday's pick four.
The sequence begins with the sixth, a $54,000 classified allowance and optional claimer where six graded-stakes-seasoned older males go 1 1/16 miles. Seemingly any among Loving, Judge's Case, Lord Ofthe Thunder, Resolve, Abreeze, or Classic Endeavor could win on his best effort.
ALBANY, Calif. - One year ago, Radar Contact ran third in the Ken Maddy Sprint Handicap at Golden Gate Fields, losing by a neck to El Dorado Shooter and Giovannetti.
Friday, one day before El Dorado Shooter and Giovannetti will square off again in the Maddy, Radar Contact will meet five rivals in a $40,000 claimer at six furlongs.
"It looks like age is catching up with him," trainer Larry Ross said. "He's not firing like he used to."
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Early nominations for the $500,000 WinStar Derby closed on Sunday, and racing secretary Norm Amundson was delighted with the more than 90 subscriptions fielded by his office. "Last year we had 51 total, and by the time late mail nominations arrive we could wind up with 100 this time," Amundson said.
No fees were needed to make an early nomination to the WinStar, with $5,000 due to start. Supplemental nominations are due March 15 and carry a starting fee of $10,000.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - You don't often see tribute days accorded to horses still in training, especially 13-year-olds. But on Saturday, Fonner Park will hold Leaping Plum Day, with the guest of honor expected to race in the day's feature, the $10,000-added Grasmick Handicap at four furlongs. There will be commemorative T-shirts and photos for the fans, and footage of Leaping Plum's races will be shown on monitors throughout the day.
There Goes Rocket, who won the $75,000 colts and geldings division of the Texas Stallion Stakes last Saturday night at Sam Houston, is scheduled to make his next start in the $200,000 Rebel for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park on March 20, said his trainer, Sam David Jr.
There Goes Rocket, returning from a brief layoff, was a game winner of the Texas Stallion Stakes.
"We thought he put in a great effort," David said. "The race was typical of him. He tries every time he goes over there."
Feet of Flames leads a four-horse contingent trained by Paul Jones in Friday night's Madeira Beach Handicap at Los Alamitos. The Madeira Beach, for 3-year-old fillies, drew a field of eight.
The depth of the Jones stable was evident when nine of the 13 nominees were trained by Jones.
Feet of Flames finished second in the Cypress Sophomore to a highly regarded Grade 1 stakes winner, Willie Works, the second-fastest qualifier to next week's Grade 1, $200,000 Los Alamitos Winter Derby.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Action This Day, the champion 2-year-old male of 2003, will have two more starts at the current Santa Anita meeting before the Kentucky Derby, according to his trainer, Richard Mandella.
Mandella said Action This Day will start in the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes on March 14 as a prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 3. Action This Day finished fourth in his lone start this year, the Sham Stakes on Feb. 8. After that race, Mandella considered holding off until the Santa Anita Derby.
ARCADIA, Calif. - A pick six carryover of $179,159, the largest single-day carryover of the meeting, highlights Thursday's eight-race program at Santa Anita.
The day's top race is an optional claimer over a mile on turf with a purse of $60,000. Fourteen entered, but the field will be limited to nine because the temporary rails will be set 30 feet out.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It doesn't appear that a scary incident during the running of Saturday's $150,000 John B. Campbell Breeders' Cup Handicap at Laurel Park has left Evening Attire any worse for the wear, according to the gelding's trainer, Pat Kelly.
Evening Attire, the heavy favorite in the Campbell, finished third, but was placed second because he was roughly interfered with by Rogue Agent during the stretch run. Ole Faunty won the race and Rogue Agent, who was ridden by Norberto Arroyo Jr., crossed the finish line second and was disqualified to third.