ELMONT, N.Y. - Shake You Down rebounded from his fourth-place finish at odds-on in last month's Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap with a front-running, 5 3/4-length victory in a classified allowance race Thursday at Belmont Park.
The race was Shake You Down's final prep before the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Pretty Wild came close to winning a couple of Grade 1's last year, and now the time looks right for him to get his first stakes win in Saturday's $150,000 Jerome Handicap at Belmont Park.
Pretty Wild, coming off a strong win in his comeback race last month at Saratoga, is one of nine 3-year-olds entered in the Grade 2 Jerome.
As a 2-year-old, Pretty Wild finished second in the Hopeful and Futurity. After a fourth-place finish as the favorite in the Champagne last October, Pretty Wild was found to have a knee chip that required surgery.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Volponi is a horse that seemingly reacts positively to change. Change his equipment - such as adding blinkers in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic - and Volponi usually responds with a big race.
Twice Volponi has won stakes when he changed surfaces from dirt to turf. And four times in his 28-race career Volponi has won a race when trainer Phil Johnson has changed riders.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Shine Again, who is approaching the end of her racing career, looks to add another stakes victory to her resume in Saturday's $100,000-added Floral Park Handicap at Belmont Park.
Shine Again, a 6-year-old mare with $1.2 million in earnings and a record of 14-8-7 from 32 starts, likely will be retired at the end of the season, according to her trainer, Allen Jerkens. After the Grade 3 Floral Park, she probably will run in the First Flight on Oct. 25, a race she won the last two years.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wando, who has gathered a dedicated following through his sweep of the Canadian Triple Crown, will be looking to take his game to a new level here Sunday when he faces 10 rivals in the Grade 1, $1 million Atto Mile.
The seventh running of the Atto Mile, a turf race for 3-year-olds and up, is a wide-open contest in which very few of the entrants can be eliminated with confidence.
CHICAGO - The filly Keeping the Gold is entered in Saturday's Pucker Up Stakes at Arlington Park. She also was entered in the Prairie Meadows Oaks on Friday, a dirt race worth $100,000 less than the Pucker Up. Keeping the Gold's trainer, Chris Block, wants to try his filly on turf, and only ships when required. So, why bother cross-entering?
"The race here is coming up really tough," Block said, emphatically.
FLORENCE, Ky. - It doesn't take a lot to get trainer Murray Johnson started. Ask him why he doesn't intend to run his stable star, Perfect Drift, in the Breeders' Cup Classic again this year, and he is off and winging.
"You've got a horse who's going to win the Classic this year who doesn't even belong there," said Johnson, referring to Argentine-bred Candy Ride. "Doesn't that tell everyone not to breed horses in North America? Personally, I think it's ridiculous."
EDMONTON, Alberta - An allowance race for 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs on Saturday attracted a field of six, and two of the top contenders are trained by Dale Greenwood.
Diablo Contento finished third to Rindanica in the Western Canada Handicap just before being claimed by Greenwood from Bar None Ranches for $32,000. For Greenwood, he has not finished worse than third in four starts. His best effort was a second to Oceans Seven, beaten a head, in an optional claiming race.
For his previous interests, he won for $32,000 and had a second and a pair of thirds.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Boiling Point looks like the hot horse in a $50,000 optional race at Hastings on Saturday. He is coming off of a strong effort in the Richmond Derby Trial and figures be favored over Magcargo in the 1 1/16-mile race, which drew eight horses.
Boiling Point, trained by Ed Thompson, does his best running late, and with Orchids Spirit and Baron's Rank in the field, the pace should be lively enough to set him up. He came on strong to finish third in the Richmond Derby Trial and on Saturday he will be ridden by leading jockey Pedro Alvarado.
AUBURN, Wash. - Emerald Downs will present the sparsest weekend card in its eight-year history on Saturday, when just 51 horses will contest only eight races.
The feature contributes to the disappointing totals, as only five older runners were entered to contest a one-mile race for $16,000 to $14,000 claimers.