CHICAGO - A different outfit might have taken a shot with Golden Antigua on Saturday in the Grade 3 Modesty Handicap. But trainer Wayne Catalano and stable agent Steve Leving don't take shots with owner Frank Calabrese's horses. They win races with them.
So instead of trying the Modesty, Golden Antigua faces six rivals Thursday in a stakes-class turf allowance at Arlington. The race is tough, but as Catalano said, "She makes it tough."
DEL MAR, Calif. - Neil Drysdale never has been one to let conventional wisdom get in the way of training. So while running a filly for the first time against males in her first start in this country might look odd, in reality it's a shrewd move that could pay long-term dividends.
Midge Too, one of the best female sprinters in this region, closed out last year by winning five straight races. She makes her comeback from minor knee surgery Thursday against a solid group of fillies and mares in the first race at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La.
The 5 1/2-furlong allowance will serve as her springboard to the $50,000 Monique Rene Handicap on Aug. 24.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Feathers and Elektraline, the last two winners of the Grade 3 Bessarabian Handicap, will clash in Thursday's Woodbine feature, an $80,900 classified allowance.
The six-furlong sprint, for non-winners of $48,540 other than maiden or claiming in 2002, has drawn four other fillies and mares - Flashing Lil, Whistling Maid, Miss Sweep, and Sheila's Prospect.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The northern California fair circuit provides opportunities for new riders to make their marks.
Riders such as Jason Lumpkins parlayed strong early showings on the fair circuit into top 10 status at the major meets.
Adolfo Rodriguez and David Lopez hope to follow Lumpkins's path to northern California riding success. Both have two mounts on Thursday's Sonoma County Fair card.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The stock market is in a free fall, a baseball strike is looming, heck, even Tiger Woods can't shoot straight.
For the New York Racing Association, however, these are not troubled times. Coming off a year of increased business at its three racetracks, NYRA is set to open its marquee meeting Wednesday as Saratoga commences its 134th season. A 10-race card, highlighted by the $150,000 Schuylerville Stakes, begins at 1 p.m.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The cheery seaside atmosphere of Del Mar provides California racing with a clever appearance - fun and games at the beach, for seven weeks starting Wednesday.
A mild breeze drifts in from Pacific Ocean, and a lazy 2 p.m. Pacific post (4 p.m. Fridays) allows latecomers and afternoon simulcast bettors full access to the six-day-a-week racing schedule (Wednesday through Monday). Del Mar is a vacation postcard, with a twist - its most treasured attributes have four legs.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - An unspecified injury will further delay the comeback of Mizzen Mast, one of the country's leading handicap horses, who was scheduled to return Aug. 4 at Del Mar in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap. Trainer Bobby Frankel said Monday that Mizzen Mast came out of a July 15 work at Hollywood Park with an injury that will force him to miss the San Diego while casting uncertainty over the colt's fall campaign.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Shug McGaughey, who underwent triple bypass surgery six weeks ago, was back at his usual perch outside barn 81 Monday morning, overseeing the preparation of his stable for the upcoming Saratoga meet.
McGaughey arrived in Saratoga on Saturday and plans to be at the barn every morning and hopes to attend the races as often as he can. McGaughey, 51, underwent the procedure on June 13 after doctors found three blockages around his heart two days earlier during a routine physical exam.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Bobby Frankel says he can't do it again. Don't believe him.
In 2001, Frankel was 10 for 21 at Saratoga, winning six stakes, including three Grade 1's and three Grade 2's. "I'm not going to have that kind of meet," said Frankel, who already has won 30 stakes races this year, 22 of which were graded. "If I can do half as good I'll be happy. Everything fell into place, like the way I won the Diana."
