ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Apprentice jockey Chantal Sutherland had set three goals for herself heading into the current season.
"I wanted to be a top 10 rider, and to go for another Sovereign" as top apprentice, said Sutherland. "And my ultimate goal was to be considered for an Eclipse."
Sutherland rode 44 winners at Woodbine to rank 17th in the overall standings last year and was a runaway winner of the Sovereign Award as Canada's outstanding apprentice.
DEL MAR, Calif. - First it was knee chips, then an 11th-hour sale before the Kentucky Derby, then a controversy regarding bonus money, and then a stumble at the start of the Belmont Stakes when attempting to win the Triple Crown. With War Emblem, winner of the Derby and Preakness Stakes, nothing has ever been business as usual.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - In the last decade of the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth, the crowd has usually been able to cheer for a hometown favorite. While this year's field does not include any Monmouth-based horses, Puck has turned into the local rooting choice with his extended stay here following a win in the Long Branch Stakes on July 13.
Amidst the roller-coaster ride of the Haskell field, which saw defections of two major stars, and the status of War Emblem change three times, Puck has remained the first horse committed and the one constant.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Much as trainer Christopher Paasch would love to visit Saratoga this summer, he wasn't quite ready to go this weekend. Had he been forced to, though, he would have sent his good 3-year-old sprinter Mighty David to the Amsterdam Stakes on Saturday. But Paasch got the spot for which he had hoped, right here at Del Mar, when an optional-claiming race on Thursday's card filled.
Paasch had been shopping for the right spot for Mighty David. He entered Mighty David in last Saturday's Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap here, then thought better of it and scratched.
CHICAGO - If you're going to play races at Arlington, you'd better be prepared to deal with a fundamental issue: Kentucky.
Kentucky shippers trickle north to Chicago throughout the year, but with the Churchill spring-summer meet in the books the trickle becomes a torrent this time of year.
There's even a weekly shuttle ferrying horses between Louisville and Arlington Heights. Grey Ballet recently took it, and she's one of nine horses entered in Arlington's featured eighth race Thursday, a fourth-level turf allowance with a $75,000 claiming option taken by two horses.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - As impressive as Admirality Arch was winning his career debut at Belmont, trainer Todd Pletcher easily could have been tempted to run the promising 2-year-old back in the Sanford Stakes on the second day of the Saratoga meet.
Instead, Pletcher decided to take a more conservative route, opting to run Admirality Arch in an entry-level allowance race that is the co-feature on Thursday's card at Saratoga, along with a preliminary allowance race on the Mellon turf course for older fillies and mares.
AUBURN, Wash. - Weave It to Me will attempt to win for the fourth time in five career starts in Thursday's feature at Emerald Downs, a 6 1/2-furlong test for $16,000 3-year-olds, which drew a field of eight.
Weave It to Me, who is trained by Doris Harwood, won his only start last year, on the maiden $8,000 level. He showed little in a troubled outing on the $16,000 level in his 3-year-old debut, but won when dropped to the $6,250 plateau in June and repeated against $12,500 company last time out on July 18, when he ran six furlongs in a crisp 1:10.40 to win by half a length.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Gary Stevens, the Hall of Fame jockey who has been bothered by knee injuries in recent years, said on Tuesday he likely will miss the rest of the Del Mar meeting because of recurring soreness in his right knee, which he aggravated in a starting gate mishap over the weekend.
Stevens, 39, said he is scheduled to be evaluated on Thursday in Los Angeles by orthopedic specialist Dr. James Tibone, and the jockey said he likely would undergo a brief arthroscopic procedure at that time.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Unshaded became the toast of the racing world here two years ago after outfinishing Albert the Great to win the Travers. He will attempt to move back into the national spotlight when he takes on Street Cry, Lido Palace, Macho Uno, and Left Bank in Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney Handicap.
Unshaded turned in his final prep for the 1 1/8-mile Whitney here Tuesday morning, working an easy five furlongs in 1:02.85 under exercise rider Tracy Wilkes. Regular jockey Jon Court will be aboard Saturday.
AUBURN, Wash. - Two down and three to go.
Sharon Ross, who hopes to have five starters in the Aug. 25 running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Longacres Mile, saw two of them earn berths on Sunday when Moonlight Meeting won the $100,000 Mt. Rainier Breeders' Cup Handicap, setting a track record, and Crowning Meeting ran fourth.
Those who bet Crowning Meeting down to 7-5 were no doubt disappointed with the 8-year-old's performance, but Ross felt he got what he needed out of the 1 1/8-mile Mt. Rainier.
