With the Woodbine meet set to close this weekend, future stars could emerge with three 2-year-old stakes on tap, including the $150,000 Ontario Lassie and the $125,000 Kingarvie on Saturday and the $125,000 Display Stakes on Sunday.
Trainer Chad Brown will send out two juvenile colts – Gift Box and Flexibility – in Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Remsen at 1 1/8 miles here.
Trainer Linda Rice said that Matt King Coal, a 5 3/4-length maiden winner at Belmont on Oct. 29, would skip graded stakes opportunities this weekend and will point for the Grade 3, $200,000 Jerome over Aqueduct's inner track on Jan. 2.
The turf course hopefully will be open for business again Wednesday, which should make for an interesting featured race, with a well-matched field of 11 scheduled to go five furlongs on grass under first-level allowance and optional-claiming conditions for a $39,000 purse.
After toying with, but ultimately rejecting, the idea of adding blinkers to Tonalist's equipment for the Breeders' Cup Classic, trainer Christophe Clement said that he will put blinkers on Tonalist for Saturday's Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct.
Ami's Mesa emerged as an early leading contender for next season's Woodbine Oaks with a strong closing kick to capture Saturday's $144,900 Glorious Song Stakes at Woodbine.
Racing lost a dedicated owner and an even better friend this month with the sudden death of Barbara Smollin, 73.
Romeo Lima, who has failed to repeat his impressive 2-year-old debut last summer in France in seven subsequent starts, may finally be ready to get back on the winning track when he faces seven other 3-year-olds and up under entry-level allowance conditions Thursday at Gulfstream Park West.
The New York State Gaming Commission on Monday dismissed allegations of widespread animal abuse against leading trainer Steve Asmussen that had been lodged by an animal-rights group nearly two years ago but fined him $10,000 for seemingly minor transgressions involving the use of a feed supplement.
Weekend Hideaway, who ran the best race of his life capturing the Sunshine Millions Sprint at Gulfstream Park last January, found Gulfstream Park West to his liking as well, snapping a seven-race losing streak with a convincing 6 1/4-length victory in Sunday's feature race, which was moved from the turf to a sloppy main track due to heavy rain.
