ELMONT, N.Y. - Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide got down to serious business Friday at Belmont Park when he had his first work since Aug. 19.
Under exercise rider Robin Smullen, Funny Cide covered a half-mile in 48.26 seconds, breezing, over the main track, which was listed as fast.
The early fractions on Funny Cide's work, according to the clockers, were 12.60 for the first furlong and 24.40 for the opening quarter-mile. Funny Cide galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.30.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - It will be only fitting to see Henry Carroll run Stormy Siege in the $50,000 Smoke Glacken Stakes Sunday at Monmouth Park.
The race honors Carroll's champion sprinter who earned an Eclipse Award in 1997.
"They say a man is entitled to one good woman and one good dog in life," Carroll said. "I guess a trainer is entitled to one good horse, and I've had mine."
Stormy Siege faces six rivals in the 2-year-old stakes race at six furlongs.
Stormy Siege didn't show much in his debut, but scored a sharp win in his second start.
Buoyed by one of his strongest performances in years, infamous maiden Zippy Chippy will try to win for the first time in his 99th race Sunday at the Three County Fair at Northampton, Mass.
The 12-year-old Zippy Chippy finished second last Saturday and came as close to ending his losing streak as he has in several seasons when he opened up a five-length lead at one point only to tire in the last furlong.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - Three-year-old Ben's Reflection tries for his first stakes win against older rivals when he starts as the 119-pound highweight against six Ohio-bred rivals in Sunday's $40,000 Honey Jay Handicap at Beulah Park.
Ben's Reflection, a son of Cahill Road, is unbeaten in four career starts at Sunday's six-furlong distance. Ben's Reflection's only two losses have come in two-turn races, and he set the pace in both races before weakening.
Columbus, Neb. - Seven 3-year-old Nebraska-breds close out the Nebraska racing season in Sunday's $15,000-added Stevens Handicap. Those in the field have taken turns beating one another since February.
High Tech Racing, Grayglen, Intervene, and Homer's Hero have traded shots throughout the year, and none has emerged as dominant. All four have been weighted closely - each in the 120-122 pound range - for this 6 1/2-furlong race, a good indication of how closely matched they have been all year.
POMONA, Calif. - Captain Squire, one of the top sprinters in California, will leave the state for his next start and possibly skip the Breeders' Cup Sprint altogether. Trainer Jeff Mullins said Friday that Captain Squire was aiming for the Grade 1, $500,000 Vosburgh on Sept. 27 at Belmont Park, forsaking the Grade 1 Ancient Title on Oct. 5 at Santa Anita.
"The Ancient Title will be tougher than [the Vosburgh], and it's only $250,000," Mullins said. "He's on the bubble to get into the Breeders' Cup anyway. If he wins the Vosburgh, we might just be satisfied with that."
POMONA, Calif. - Large fields have characterized the first three days of the Los Angeles County Fair race meet, but the starting gate will be half-empty at Fairplex Park on Sunday when only five fillies and mares race 1 1/16 miles in the $50,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes.
CHICAGO - What is going on here?
Arlington has carded overnight stakes races in the $50,000 range all meet. Suddenly, they are attracting fields worthy of much higher-level races. A day after the $45,000 Smart Deb was to go with a surprisingly strong group, Sunday's Golden Pheasant, for older horses at a mile on turf, brings out an even more powerful lineup.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - California-based trainer Neil Drysdale certainly is no stranger to the Atto Mile, as he has been represented in the past six editions of the Grade 1 turf race.
But Drysdale, who won the Atto Mile with Labeeb in 1998 and watched Hawksley Hill finish first only to be disqualified and placed fourth the following season, will be adding a wrinkle to his visit this year, running both Touch of the Blues and Sarafan here Sunday.
"The race just comes at a very good time," Drysdale said. "And, Woodbine has a very good turf course."
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - When trainer Graham Motion comes to Woodbine, he usually makes some waves.
Motion won the Grade 3 Royal North Handicap here in 2000 and 2001 with Confessional and also captured the 2001 Seagram Cup Stakes with Trajectory, like Confessional a ship-in from Delaware. He will saddle Commendation in one of Sunday's supporting features on Atto Mile Day, the $285,500 Summer Stakes, a one-mile turf event for 2-year-olds.