ELMONT, N.Y. - Never mind the well-matched capacity field. What most concerns nearly every trainer of the 14 horses in Saturday's $125,000 Iroquois Stakes at Belmont Park is the seven-furlong distance.
It's one furlong longer than the standard American sprint race and at least one furlong shorter than the typical two-turn route. Sprinters are required to hold their speed another eighth of a mile; routers are supposed to sharpen up and stay closer to the pace.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Irish Colonial and I'm All Yours, the highweights in Saturday's $150,000 Mohawk Handicap, are each coming off layoffs, making the white-hot Quantum Merit the horse to beat.
Twelve New York-bred males entered the 1 1/8-mile Mohawk, which will be run on the inner turf. My Legal Alien is an also-eligible.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Daniel Boudreau, an apprentice who is in ninth place in the rider standings here with 41 wins, had his first spill in Monday's fourth race, when his mount, Emily Nicole, fell just after crossing the finish line.
"I fell on my shoulder, knee, and back," said Boudreau. "It's the first time I went down. It was a weird feeling. I had no time to get scared. It was in the blink of an eye. You roll and hope. She just touched my left foot."
Boudreau said he was okay after the spill and rode his other two mounts on the card.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Angel Gift and Lost at Sea, a pair of talented runners seeking their first victories of 2003, are the ones to beat in a field of six older fillies and mares in Saturday's $60,000-added Golden Poppy Handicap.
Angel Gift is the defending champion in the 1 1/16-mile race. She has two third-place finishes in four starts this year.
Lost at Sea, who developed into a Grade 1 participant last year, has a pair of seconds in three starts this year.
French Charmer stands out Saturday in the $100,000 Flying Pidgeon Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile grass race at Calder. But his trainer, Harry Benson, has been around too long not to worry.
Benson and French Charmer's principle owner, Joseph Sweedler, go back more than 50 years in the horse business. "We started out with a $2,500 claimer, and this summer [Sweedler] has won five stakes," Benson said Thursday afternoon.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Sleeters will soon hunker down for the winter, laying up their stable of New Jersey-breds at the family farm in Clementon, N.J.
"We'll just stop racing and rest everybody up," said owner Gerry Sleeter, who works closely with son Kevin, the trainer of the operation.
Before the Sleeter stable heads into hibernation, several objectives are still on the horizon, including the $40,000 Girl Powder Stakes on Saturday night at The Meadowlands.
East Boston, Mass. - Strongestsovereign appears ready to live up to his breeding in Saturday's $35,000 Norman Hall Stakes for 2-year-old Massachusetts-breds.
Strongestsovereign is a son of Sundance Ridge and the dam Sultan's Light. Owner Manny Roos has already seen Strongestsovereign's brother Stylish Sultan and sister Sunlit Ridge rack up multiple championships and numerous stakes races.
Distinct Vision has won three races - by a combined margin of nearly 21 lengths - and finished a close second in four starts at Delaware Park this season, all with Ramon Dominguez as his jockey. In three trips out of town, with a different rider on his back each time, Distinct Vision has been beaten a collective 44 lengths.
Trainer Mike Pino has done his best to accommodate Distinct Vision's preferences by entering him in Saturday's $100,000 Sussex Handicap, but the gelding will have to race on turf for the first time and might have to do without Dominguez.
Northern Air and Gators N Bears head a group of 12 3-year-old sprinters in Saturday's $50,000 Sonny Hine Stakes, the six-furlong feature at Laurel Park.
Northern Air, part of a Michael Gill-owned entry with Philadelphia Jim, ran the best race of his career earlier this month, winning the six-furlong Gallant Bob Handicap at Philadelphia Park with a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Trainer Rick Hedge has shown the Midas touch in the waning weeks of the Alberta season, which is a good omen for the speedball King Jeremy in an optional claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs on Saturday.
King Jeremy was recently claimed by Hedge for owner Richard Davies for $28,000 and is making his second start for Hedge, a former Alberta champion rider.
Hedge won the Beaufort with Beau Brass on Alberta Fall Classics Day Sept. 20 and last weekend won the Freedom of the City with Waikoloa.