FERNDALE, Calif. - Speed has been extremely effective on Ferndale's tight-turned half-mile track, but trainer Ron White hopes that distance will overcome the front-running basis when he sends out Hello Lila in the $10,000 Don Harmon Memorial-Les Mademoiselle Stakes Saturday.
Seven fillies and mares will start in the 1 1/16-mile headliner, as the Humboldt County Fair heads into the homestretch of its 106th race meeting.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - As awesome as England's Legend was in the Beverly D. last year, that's how dreadful Astra was. As England's Legend sped off to a resounding victory, Astra floundered finishing 24 lengths behind as the odds-on favorite.
Therein lies a paradox, because both before and after the 2001 Beverly D., Astra clearly was the better horse.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Suspense and intrigue were held to a minimum when post positions were drawn Wednesday for the three Grade 1 turf races, headed by the Arlington Million, comprising the International Festival of Racing, which will be run Saturday at Arlington.
With more than a quarter-mile of wide turf course before the first turn, and with sweeping turns that allow for tactical flexibility, post positions are little more than a formality in the Million, Beverly D., and Secretariat.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - When it comes to Forbidden Apple, trainer Christophe Clement doesn't hold back his emotions.
"Look at him, he's 7 years old and he always runs his race," Clement said. "I love the horse."
Forbidden Apple has responded in kind. For the last three seasons he has been a graded stakes pillar in Clement's barn, and though Forbidden Apple doesn't run often, Clement makes his races count. Last year he raced four times, only in Grade 1's and Grade 2's, winning the Manhattan and finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Mile.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - On Friday, trainer Ken Nesky might feel a bit more pressure than he normally would when saddling a major contender in a stakes.
Nesky will send out Shopping for Love, the likely favorite in the $75,000-added Yaddo Handicap, a New York-bred grass race for fillies and mares. Shopping for Love's owners, Donald George and Dennis D'Arcangelo, live in nearby North Adams, Mass., and have chartered a bus for 55 of their friends to come to Saratoga to cheer on their mare.
DEL MAR, Calif. - A second-place finish by Dream Machine in the Oceanside Stakes on July 24 has trainer Julio Canani hoping to use Friday's $67,000 Relaunch Stakes at Del Mar as a springboard to the Del Mar Derby on Sept. 8.
Dream Machine was beaten a length in a division of the one-mile Oceanside Stakes, his first start since arriving from France in early summer.
Canani had Dream Machine nominated for Saturday's $150,000 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds, but has opted for the Relaunch, which is restricted to nonwinners of three races.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Meghanmehappy, an eye-catching winner of her only start, will move to the grass in Friday's Woodbine feature, a seven-furlong allowance prep for the Grade 3 Natalma Stakes on Sept. 7.
Four other 2-year-old fillies were entered in the $72,200 race - Warlike, Fritzy Hour, Teewee's Hope, and Angel in Tights. All are trying the turf for the first time.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The problem with many stakes races these days is that they don't seem to attract fields worthy of their purse or status. The opposite thing is going on Friday at Arlington. At $60,000-added, the Reluctant Guest doesn't seem worthy of the field it has drawn.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer Frank Barroby has taken the blinkers off Point Five, hoping the 7-year-old gelding will slow down during the early stages of the Hasting Park feature Friday, an optional handicap for 3-year-olds and up going 1 3/8 miles.
Eight older horses have been entered, and it looks like a very competitive event. First post for the seven-race Friday evening card has been moved to 6:44 p.m.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Rancour was a shocking winner of the Westerner here last August, upsetting the likes of Run Joey Run, Code Name Fred, and Scotman.
This year, Rancour has been something of a disappointment, with one win in five starts. In three of those races he finished behind Sixthirtyjoe. With Sixthirtyjoe not running in Friday's $40,000 Westerner, Rancour will try to get back on track in the race that first brought him to the public's attention.
