ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Unbeaten Fleet of Foot will attempt to take her game to the next level Sunday at Woodbine when she tries stakes company for the first time in the Ontario Damsel, a 6 1/2-furlong turf dash for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Fleet of Foot, a daughter of Gone West, is just one of a seemingly unlimited number of blue-blooded Sam-Son Farm runners. She made short work of her rivals when she debuted in a May 15 maiden event, winning by two comfortable lengths.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - He has conquered the starter allowance ranks and climbed right up the allowance ladder. Can Talknow, who just last fall raced in a $5,000 claiming race, possibly be good enough to win Sunday's Dr. Fager, a $42,000 overnight handicap?
At this point, anything seems possible.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - On paper, Sunday's $40,000-added Juan Gonzalez Memorial Stakes at the Alameda County Fair seems to be a one-horse race.
But even though My Honey Bunny comes in with the best credentials, trainer Mike Harrington knows his 2-year-old filly has her work cut out for her in the five-furlong race.
My Honey Bunny has a win and two thirds in three starts. In her second start, she won a $40,000 maiden claiming race by seven lengths. In her last start on June 2, she was third in the $98,775 Cinderella Stakes at Hollywood Park.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Fred Hilts has been appointed race secretary for the rest of the Thoroughbred season at Northlands Park.
Hilts succeeds Alan Bott, who resigned this spring, citing irreconcilable differences with Larry Carter, executive director of the Alberta Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.
Bott will continue to serve as race secretary for the Standardbred division here.
"I have accepted the job until the end of the season, then both sides will weigh our options," said Hilts, adding that no contract has been signed.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Elana D'Amour looks like a standout in Sunday's $35,000 Emerald Downs Handicap at Hastings Park. The 6 1/2-furlong feature drew six other horses, but if Elana D'Amour runs her usual race, the rest of the field will be running for second money.
AUBURN, Wash. - Did Acure for Geri get good because she was switched to the turf, or because she was sent long?
The answer, important as it may be for handicapping Sunday's 1 1/16-mile Irish Day Handicap at Emerald Downs, is thoroughly ambiguous.
Lone Star Park near Dallas was granted $2.9 million for capital improvements for the Breeders' Cup from the City of Grand Prairie Sports Facilities Development Corp., on Friday. The track has been selected as a conditional host for the Breeders' Cup in 2005, but could be called upon to house the event as early as 2004.
The funds will be used to expand Lone Star's existing seating capacity of about 10,000 to 50,000. The money will also be used to make improvements to the stable area.
Emerald Downs has announced a new handicapping contest that will send a record 12 qualifiers to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship. The Ultimate Qualifying Tournament, scheduled for Sunday, July 28, will offer $11,600 in prize money.
Approximately 50 tracks, OTB's, and casinos around the country will host regional qualifying events for the national championship, to be held in January 2003 in Las Vegas. Venues normally send four qualifiers to the national finals; Emerald is the first track ever to send its top 12 finishers to the Las Vegas finals.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - After a five-year absence, Leonard Lavin's Glen Hill Farm and trainer Tom Proctor are back at Arlington. But don't expect as much production from their short string here this year as was seen in the 1990's.
Proctor and Lavin, who lives in Glencoe, Ill., were fixtures here in the 1990's. They won 21 races in 1992 and campaigned One Dreamer at Arlington for three years, including 1994, the year she won the Breeders' Cup Distaff at 47-1.