LEXINGTON, Ky. - Normally when an elite horse is withdrawn in the days leading up to a rich stakes race, a flood of new horses, with their trainers eager to capitalize on the missing star, are thrown into the mix.
Sunday's Grade 2 WinStar Galaxy at Keeneland is a rare exception. Even with trainer Christophe Clement passing the race with Voodoo Dancer, and with defending champ Owsley being retired recently, only six fillies and mares were entered in the $500,000 race.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sunday's $60,000-added Courtship Stakes at Bay Meadows will serve as an important guidepost for the trainers of the six 2-year-old fillies entered in the six-furlong race.
The lightly raced fillies who have run in Washington and northern and Southern California will begin the sorting-out process that will determine their future direction.
Bianconi Baby, a 10-length winner in her Sept. 14 debut at Emerald Downs, is one of the contenders, but, obviously, has questions to answer for trainer Terry Gillihan.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Unbeaten 2-year-old Twisted Wit will test his ability around two turns Sunday in the $277,250 Grey Breeders' Cup Stakes.
The Grade 2 race is the richest and most important stakes for 2-year-olds at Woodbine. Wando, this year's Canadian Triple Crown victor, won the 2002 Grey, and Macho Uno captured the 2000 running before taking the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The turf training track opened for a special session here Friday, and the three horses who worked over the yielding surface had much in common.
Not Again Dan, Cut and Shoot, and Winter Whiskey all were $5,000 supplementary nominees for the $250,000 Cup and Saucer, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds here next Saturday.
And, with the recent wet weather having cut down sharply on turf training opportunities, Friday's opening allowed the three horses connections to assess their prospects.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Lenny the Lender, a 7-year-old gelding who is still looking for his first 2003 victory after seven tries, has emerged as Fort Erie's newest hero.
Last Sunday at Woodbine, at odds of 25-1, Lenny the Lender was just a nose short of nailing winner Bowman Mill at the wire in the Grade 2, $271,750 Sky Classic Handicap, a prep for the $1.5 million, 1 1/2-mile Pattison Canadian International on Oct. 19.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Lord Nelson has been the dominant older horse at Hastings for the past three years but one of the major races at Hastings has eluded him so far. His trainer, Dino Condilenios, is hoping to rectify that situation when Lord Nelson runs in the Grade 3, $100,000, Premier's next Sunday.
The $1 million Delta Jackpot for 2-year-olds at Delta Downs on Dec. 5, which has been doubled in value for the upcoming meet, speaks to the riches that slot machines have produced for the Vinton, La., track since its casino opened in February 2001.
Before then, stakes for Thoroughbreds were almost nonexistent at Delta. But fast-forward to the 2003-04 season, which will run 86 nights from Oct. 31 to March 27, and the riches are almost embarrassing. Delta has scheduled 45 stakes worth about $4 million. Last year, the track had 36 stakes worth $2.5 million.
MIAMI, Fla. - Six months ago Eddie Castro was riding in his native Panama. Today the 18-year-old is among the winningest apprentice riders in the country, in the thick of a battle with veteran Manoel Cruz for the spring-summer riding title at Calder and a legitimate contender for an Eclipse Award as the nation's top apprentice.
CHICAGO - Run Hawthorne's Sunday feature on paper, and Victory at Sea is the winner. But the Hawthorne racing surface occupies a place far removed from the static world of past performances. The track here is quirky, sometimes deep and difficult to handle, and a horse's affinity for it often means as much as established form.
So think twice about accepting Victory at Sea's short price in Sunday's eighth race, a high-end, six-furlong allowance with a $100,000 claiming option that only Victory at Sea's connections exercise.
After winning last year's Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap, Pleasantly Perfect appeared to be one of the rising stars in the game, and a significant contender for the Breeders' Cup Classic three weeks later. But little has gone right since he crossed the wire.
