ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Hot Talent was a smash hit again here Monday, scoring her third win in as many career outings in the $250,000 Wonder Where.
But Hot Talent, a 3-year-old filly owned by Stronach Stable and trained by Malcolm Pierce, now may have to take her act on the road.
"We have no idea at all where we might run her next," said Pierce, after watching Hot Talent become a stakes winner in Monday's 1 1/4-mile turf feature for Canadian-bred
3-year-old fillies.
Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, which last month had requested drastic changes to its racing calendar for 2003, has amended its original request, reverting to a schedule similar to the one it has kept the past several years.
In its new request, Sam Houston asked for 84 dates of Thoroughbred racing in 2003, from Jan. 2 to March 30, and from Oct. 24 to Dec. 31.
The spinal injuries jockey David Guillory sustained in a spill Friday at Louisiana Downs apparently will force him to retire. Guillory has been one of the most respected jockeys on the Louisiana-Arkansas circuit since he began his career in 1983.
"I'm pretty sure I will retire from race riding," said Guillory, who turns 42 on Aug. 24. "This makes me decide earlier than I wanted."
Guillory was injured in the third race, when his mount clipped heels at the top of the stretch. "My horse stumbled and I went over his head," the rider said.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Channing Way ($4.40) battled on the front end with Hadl and had enough left late to hold off Onslaught by a neck as she won the $50,990 Elie Destruel Handicap on Monday at the Sonoma County Fair.
Channing Way, who won her second straight and eighth in 12 starts, clocked 1:09.45 for six furlongs.
"She loves that hooked stuff," winning rider Chad Schvaneveldt said. "She'd open by a length, then wait, then go on again."
Winning trainer Dan Morgan said, "She's a pro. She's tough. She knows where the wire is."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The big winners of Sunday's major stakes races for 3-year-olds both came out of their races in excellent condition, according to their trainers, but a match between War Emblem and Medaglia d'Oro will have to wait until at least the fall, because the horses are headed in separate directions for their next starts.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Two years ago, on different continents, Lord Flasheart and Tapatio were top 3-year-olds. Lord Flasheart was second in the 2000 French Derby. Five months later Tapatio won the Argentine Derby.
On Wednesday, both will try to win their first stakes in the United States in the $75,000 Escondido Handicap at Del Mar.
Run over 1 3/8 miles on turf, the Escondido is restricted to horses who have not won a first-place purse of $60,000 at a mile or over this year.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Thirty-two horses were confirmed dead as of Monday, the result of a fire that destroyed two barns on the Woodbine backstretch early Sunday morning.
The blaze destroyed Barns 7 and 7A, which housed a total of 122 horses. William Hiscott, a fire investigator with the office of the fire marshall, said that the cause of the blaze was still under investigation. Hiscott would not reveal the exact point of origin of the fire, which began just before 3 a.m. in Barn 7.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - First the morning-line favorite scratched. Then the post-time favorite broke slowly, rushed up, and set fast fractions that melted him like an ice-cream cone left out in the sun. The combination proved fruitful for the opportunistic Quest Star, who finally broke through for a graded stakes victory in Monday's $150,000 at Saratoga.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey Richard Migliore was bruised but not broken as a result of a spill in Sunday's Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. Though he took off his six mounts on Monday, Migliore was hopeful he could return to the saddle on Wednesday or Thursday.
Migliore was aboard Iron Deputy in the Jim Dandy when his horse clipped heels with Quest, who under Javier Castellano came in at the three-sixteenths pole. Migliore was unseated and hurled hard to the ground. Though Quest finished second, he was disqualified and placed last.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher has bad news for those who purchased a future book ticket on Left Bank for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
"It's probably just a collector's item," Pletcher said.
With his powerful performance in Saturday's Whitney Handicap, Left Bank made it 2 for 2 at nine furlongs and will most likely be given the opportunity to try the 10 furlongs of the Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 26 at Arlington Park.
