Seven of the 14 2-year-old colts and geldings scheduled to run in the $50,000 Pennsylvania Nursery are jumping into the stakes ranks immediately after winning their maiden.
The seven-furlong Nursery, formerly known as the Pennsylvania Futurity, is the last stakes of the season at Philadelphia Park.
The group of recent maiden winners is led by Smarty Jones and Salty Punch, both of whom earned good Beyer Speed Figures.
This week marks a period of transition at Hawthorne Race Course near Chicago. Fans have enjoyed a steady diet of six-figure stakes during six of the first eight weekends of the meet, but the pickings start to get slim as winter approaches. In fact, no stakes, overnight or otherwise, are scheduled this weekend.
Saturday's 6 1/2-furlong feature, a $32,000 three-other-than allowance with a $35,000 claiming option, has attracted a solid field and showcases a rematch between two 4-year-old geldings who were separated by a head in their only other encounter.
Questionable Past, who has not been tested in three starts on dirt, will take on two Steve Asmussen-trained fillies in the $35,000 Miss Houston Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park on Saturday night. The seven-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies drew six, including leading contenders Bigtimeaffair and Rare Glitter, both of whom are trained by Asmussen.
Questionable Past has won three of her four starts, with her lone defeat coming in a two-turn turf race in her debut in August. After that start, she stormed to a 9 1/2-length maiden win over 5 1/2 furlongs at Retama.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The clock is ticking for jockey Todd Kabel, who is hoping to break the Ontario record for the most stakes winners in a season.
Kabel, who tops the Woodbine standings in both races and money won, has won 29 stakes here heading into the next-to-last weekend of the meeting. There are five stakes races remaining, and Kabel should be represented in each one.
The Ontario record, 32 stakes wins, was set by the late Avelino Gomez in 1966.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It's usually difficult for a horse or person based in British Columbia to win a Sovereign Award. The best racing in Canada is held at Woodbine in Ontario, and that province has the largest Sovereign Award voting bloc.
But this year may be different. There is not a standout in the 3-year-old filly division at Woodbine, while Dancewithavixen, at Hastings, has compiled an enviable record that could earn her the Sovereign Award in the division.
PHOENIX - Centerofattention was true to her name when she shipped to Turf Paradise in May and won the Sun City Handicap at a mile on the turf.
She looks to duplicate that feat when she lines up against 11 other fillies and mares in Saturday's $50,000 Queen of the Green Handicap. The distance is the same as the Sun City - a mile on the turf - and Centerofattention comes in as the 121-pound highweight and with big expectations.
Questionable Past, who has not been tested in three starts on dirt, will take on two Steve Asmussen-trained fillies in the $35,000 Miss Houston Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park on Saturday night. The seven-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies drew six, including leading contenders Bigtimeaffair and Rare Glitter, both of whom are trained by Asmussen.
Questionable Past has won three of her four starts, with her lone defeat coming in a two-turn turf race in her debut in August. After that start, she stormed to a 9 1/2-length maiden win over 5 1/2 furlongs at Retama.
This week marks a period of transition at Hawthorne Race Course near Chicago. Fans have enjoyed a steady diet of six-figure stakes during six of the first eight weekends of the meet, but the pickings start to get slim as winter approaches. In fact, no stakes, overnight or otherwise, are scheduled this weekend.
Saturday's 6 1/2-furlong feature, a $32,000 three-other-than allowance with a $35,000 claiming option, has attracted a solid field and showcases a rematch between two 4-year-old geldings who were separated by a head in their only other encounter.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - In a recent debate on a Toronto sports radio show, golfer Mike Weir, who won the Masters, was the general consensus choice to win the Lou Marsh Award as the 2003 Canadian Athlete of the Year over Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Eric Gagne, even though the Los Angeles Dodgers' reliever would be a more deserving winner because he was deemed to be the best at what he does.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After taking a shot in the Grade 3 Tempted Stakes, Fait Accompli drops back into New York-bred company Friday when she heads an eight-horse field in a $44,000 entry-level allowance race restricted to 2-year-old statebred fillies at Aqueduct.
Fait Accompli, a daughter of Louis Quatorze, beat statebreds on opening day of the Belmont fall meet, her second career start. She ran back in the Joseph A. Gimma Stakes, where she was beaten nine lengths while finishing second to Capeside Lady.