OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jockey Edgar Prado will put the finishing touches on a career-best season this weekend while riding in major stakes at Aqueduct and Hollywood Park.
After Sunday, Prado, 36, will not ride again in the United States until opening day at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 3. Prado will travel to Japan to take part in a jockey challenge championship Dec. 6 and 7 and will spend the rest of December on vacation with his family.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Lead Story led a one-two sweep for trainer Carl Nafzger, drawing off for a surprisingly easy victory Thursday in the $334,200 Falls City Handicap, a Grade 2 race that marked the career finale for Take Charge Lady, who labored home a well-beaten fifth in the Churchill Downs fixture.
Over a sloppy track, Lead Story finished 6 1/2 lengths ahead of second-place stablemate Mayo on the Side, who had another six lengths on late-running Cloakof Vagueness. Misty Sixes narrowly beat Take Charge Lady, the 3-5 favorite, for fourth.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - They couldn't catch Bossanova.
Getting away to a clean start under Edgar Prado, Bossanova made the lead effortlessly, set moderate fractions, and held on for a one-half length victory over Papua in Thursday's Grade 3, $108,300 Fall Highweight Handicap before a Thanksgiving Day crowd of 4,337 at Aqueduct.
Savoy Special, who stumbled leaving the gate, chased Bossanova early, but had to settle for third. Speed Hunter finished fourth followed by Peeping Tom and Vodka.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Watchem Smokey, bought privately by Edmund Gann and trainer Bobby Frankel earlier this year, won his first major stakes in Thursday's Grade 3 $100,000 Vernon Underwood Stakes at Hollywood Park.
Watchem Smokey ($9.40) ran six furlongs in 1:08.93, finishing a length in front of pacesetter Our New Recruit. Hasty Kris was third, with Avanzado, the 3-5 favorite, only fifth in the field of six.
Ridden by Julie Krone, Watchem Smokey was fourth on the backstretch, stalking Avanzado and Our New Recruit through quick fractions of 21.82 and 44.22 seconds.
NEW ORLEANS - The 3-year-old sprinter Posse showed long ago he likes racing on wet tracks. Thursday, before a crowd of 5,188 on opening day at Fair Grounds, he proved himself a horse for deluges, too.
Running through a monsoon, and under premature darkness at 4:20 p.m., Posse charged from last to first and won the Thanksgiving Handicap by 1 1/2 lengths over Aloha Bold.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - What is known about Commendation is that he can run on the grass. Four of his five starts have been on grass, and he has won three of those, including the Bourbon County Stakes last month at Keeneland.
What is not known about Commendation is whether he might eventually be equally adept on dirt. And that is what trainer Graham Motion intends to start finding out Saturday when he saddles Commendation for Courtlandt Farms in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.
"This time of year, it's the time to find out," said Motion.
MIAMI - Timo will have to make a long trip to get to Calder for Saturday's $100,000 Mecke Stakes, shipping in from trainer Bill Badgett Jr.'s winter base at Fair Grounds. And after drawing post 12, Timo will likely be forced to make another long trip if he's to win the 1 1/16-mile Mecke.
The Mecke, for 2-year-olds, shares top billing on Saturday's 12-race program with its filly counterpart, the $100,000 Hollywood Wildcat Stakes. Both races are wide open, and as a result drew full fields of 12.
NEW ORLEANS - Last season at Fair Grounds, Destiny Calls showed signs of possessing the talent of her sister, You'llbeinmyheart, who beat males in the 2002 Gentilly Handicap here. But it is hard to say which way Destiny Calls is headed now.
Unraced since April, Destiny Calls makes her comeback Saturday in the eighth race, a second-level allowance sprint for statebred fillies. That race and the one that follows, an open two-other-than allowance, are co-featured on a 10-race program.
ALBANY, Calif. - Lindsay Jean and Lacie Girl, northern California's top two female runners for the past year, head Saturday's Star Ball Handicap at Golden Gate Fields.
The two tower over their seven rivals in the $60,000-added, 1 1/16-mile race that contains seven stakes winners.
Lindsay Jean and Lacie Girl will sit close to a hot pace to likely be set by Watch Out World, Pheiffer, and A B Noodle.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - D. Wayne Lukas and Ken McPeek will be firing both barrels Saturday. They each have two starters for the Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs, and their respective camps believe they have two excellent chances.
The Lukas fillies, Be Gentle and Stellar Jayne, "are both in with a good shot," said Lukas's assistant Sebastian Nichol. "Different styles, mind you, but still very good."