EDMONTON, Alberta - Captain Creek, third in the restricted Alberta Breeders' Handicap here Sept. 21, shoots for his first victory of the year in an optional claiming race for 3-year-olds and up at 6 1/2 furlongs Saturday.
A lightly raced 5-year-old from Ernie Keller's barn, Captain Creek was a close second in an optional claiming race in his race before the Alberta Breeders'. This will be his sixth start of the year.
With Real Simard in the saddle, Captain Creek heads a field of six.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Avanzado, a winner of back-to-back races at Del Mar, will make his East Coast debut in Sunday's $250,000 Forest Hills Handicap.
The Grade 2 Forest Hills will be run at six furlongs on Belmont's main track.
Avanzado, trained by Doug O'Neill, arrived at Belmont earlier in the week from Hollywood Park.
Avanzado was running in Argentina in the spring when owner Mike Cooper, on the advice of bloodstock agent and former trainer John Fulton, privately purchased the horse.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Forbidden Apple returns to his favorite course and preferred distance Saturday when he aims for an unprecedented three-peat in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park.
Forbidden Apple, a 7-year-old son of Pleasant Colony, is 7-3-1 from 13 starts on Belmont turf. Four of those victories have come at one mile, including the last two runnings of the Kelso. Forbidden Apple is winless in five starts since last year's Kelso, which is not to suggest he is showing his age.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Shug McGaughey shoots for his fifth win in the Frizette on Saturday with Matron winner Storm Flag Flying, the 7-5 favorite at the close of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies future book bet.
Storm Flag Flying will be favored among seven 2-year-old fillies in the $500,000 Frizette, one of three Grade 1 Breeders' Cup preps on the Belmont Park program.
ANDERSON, Ind. - The Swifty Farms partnership of Don and Dana Myers has a twofold interest in this year's Indiana Derby. Swifty Farms, which is located in Seymour, Ind., not only is the breeder of Pass Rush - who is now owned by Michael Tabor and trained by Patrick Byrne - but also is part-owner of Wiseman's Ferry with Morton Fink and Lee Sacks.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Even trainer D. Wayne Lukas is a little curious about what would happen if Orientate races against Xtra Heat. That fascinating matchup was tentatively scheduled to take place Saturday at Keeneland in the Phoenix Stakes, but with the soggy remnants of Hurricane Lili apparently headed for Lexington this weekend, Lukas decided against entering Orientate.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - John Edwards spent 34 years as a detective with the Vancouver Police Department, and the investigative techniques he learned on the job have served him well as an owner of racehorses, particularly when it comes to claiming them. Along with his wife, Dawn, John Maloney, Mark and Lionel Lesage, and Grant MacDonald, Edwards is part of Aurora Stables. One of their most successful claims, Full Scream Ahead, figures to be one of the favorites in the Grade 3 $175,000 Ballerina Breeders' Cup on Sunday.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - The California Horse Racing Board has told Bay Meadows to cancel its $15,000 Trainer Challenge, which would have coincided with the racing dates of the Big Fresno Fair. The board ruled that only fairs can hold such contests.
The California State Fair in Sacramento has run a trainers' contest, as did the Bay Meadows Fair in August. The purpose of the contests are to entice trainers to race at specific meets.
PHOENIX, Ariz. - There are sports teams that get knocked because they do just enough to win. So do some horses.
But the important thing is the "W," and when Channing Way runs in Saturday's $30,000 City of Phoenix Handicap it won't matter to her backers or connections that she seldom leaves much margin for error. The important thing is that the 4-year-old filly wins races, lots of them.
Trained by Dan Morgan and owned by Lawrence Becker, Channing Way has won 9 of 14 going into Saturday's six-furlong race, which attracted 11 fillies and mares.
Nine 2-year-olds will meet in Saturday's $102,000 Ron and Jess Cloud Memorial Handicap at the Big Fresno Fair in Fresno, Calif..
The race, whose purse includes $52,000 donated in memory of the Clouds by their family, is the richest run at a California fair.
Recent maiden winner Omega Code, who graduated in his second career start as a 1-5 shot at Fairplex on Sept. 22, and Onebadshark, unraced since winning a July 14 maiden race at Vallejo, are the probable favorites.
Omega Code was favored when he ran second to Bull Market in his debut on July 24 at Del Mar.