CHICAGO - Looking for an angle in Chicago 2-year-old races? Try these two words - Tom Swearingen.
There have been only two 2-year-old races run so far this year in Chicago, and Swearingen-trained horses won both. It's no surprise. Swearingen's outfit consistently sends out live young horses on the Chicago circuit, and his 2-year-olds are especially dominant during spring. Everybody knows it, too.
CHICAGO - Proven turf ability meets prospective turf ability Saturday at Hawthorne when Maliziosa faces Sarah Jade in the $100,000 Summertime Promise Breeders' Cup Stakes.
Maliziosa has spent her whole career racing on grass, and three weeks ago won the Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs. Sarah Jade has never raced on turf, if for no other reason than she's never had a chance. She didn't start her career until turf racing in Chicago had ended last year, then spent the winter at Oaklawn Park, where she ran well in main-track stakes races.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Menacing Dennis, 10th in the Preakness last Saturday, on Tuesday shipped from Pimlico to Monmouth, where he will race during the summer. won his maiden here by 10 3/4 lengths as a 2-year-old last year.
Assistant trainer Salvatore Muniz will oversee his training until trainer Jeff Bonde arrives from California with the rest of his Monmouth string. Bonde was stabled here for the first time last summer. Menacing Dennis came out of the Preakness in good shape and shipped well, Muniz said while giving the gelding his morning bath Thursday.
EAST BOSTON, Mass. - While Memorial Day weekend is a big one for many racetracks, those at Suffolk Downs can be forgiven for looking a week ahead to the Massachusetts Handicap on June 1. The field for the $500,000 race will include four top-flight horses, making it one of the best runnings since Skip Away fought off Formal Gold, Will's Way, and Geri in 1997.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It would be fitting for owner John Atto to have an entrant in the race he sponsors.
And while the Sept. 8 Atto Mile currently is little more than a speck on the horizon, In Frank's Honor will take the opening step on his possible path to that Grade 1 feature when he makes his local bow for trainer Sandy McPherson in Saturday's Connaught Cup at Woodbine.
In Frank's Honor was claimed for $62,500 from his last start at Gulfstream on March 2, which was a winning effort over 1 1/16 miles of firm turf.
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Fort Erie's signature race, the Prince of Wales Stakes, will be televised nationally in Canada this year.
The July 21 race hasn't had such exposure since the Ontario Jockey Club, which is now known as the Woodbine Entertainment Group, reached an agreement with CTV Sports Group in 1998. The purpose of the accord was to get a bigger presence on television for Canadian horse racing because its visibility was shrinking on the CBC network.
ALTOONA, Iowa - Stakes winners Orphan Lover and True Tear Drops square off in Saturday night's $60,000 Bob Bryant Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
Orphan Lover enters the Bryant, a six-furlong race restricted to Iowa-bred 3-year-old fillies, off a 2 3/4-length allowance victory against older runners here 10 days ago. Last October, Orphan Lover posted a gate-to-wire victory over open company in the Prairie Meadows Debutante.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Seven well-matched 3-year-old colts are entered in the $35,000 St. Paul Stakes at Canterbury Park. Bellicosity ships in from Sportsman's Park to try the six-furlong race and rates a slight edge. Owned by Sam Villardito and trained by Jimmy Divito, Bellicosity has come to hand this season with two daylight victories in Chicago after going winless in six starts at 2. Bellicosity exits an optional claiming race for 3-year-olds; his typical opening-quarter split would make him the pacesetter in the St. Paul. Dean Kutz has been named to ride.
MUSKEGON, Mich. - Secret Romeo, twice a seasonal champion at Great Lakes Downs, heads a field of 10 runners, including a stable coupling, in the $45,000 Wolverine Stakes on Saturday evening. The Wolverine, at six furlongs, will be the eighth race on the 10-race card.