It won’t exactly be the second coming of Damascus vs. Dr. Fager. But when Gabriel Charles and Power Ped take the field on Saturday in the $400,000 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar, there’s a chance it will be worth the price of admission just watching the guys in the saddle.
Title Contender usually has more than 13 days between races, so it could be a good sign that he’s ready for another strong race after winning a $35,000 optional-claiming race going 6 1/2 furlongs July 5. If he does come back firing, he will be tough to beat in a $50,000 optional-claiming race that headlines the seven-race card Saturday at Hastings.
Unlike others in the Delaware Handicap on Satureday, the stretch-out to 1 1/4 miles will suit Rosalind nicely.
Killin Me Smalls has turned into a lot more than just a nice sprinter. He hasn’t lost in three starts this year, and he is coming off a 9 1/4-length romp over Aces Again in the one-mile Spangled Jimmy Handicap on June 13. He figures to be a very short price when he runs Saturday in the $50,000 Fred Jones Handicap at Northlands Park. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up drew seven horses, and post time will about 4:30 p.m. Mountain.
It’s the Swede and Who’s Smokin, a gifted duo of Iowa-bred fillies trained by Jon Arnett, will remain in open company on Saturday evening for the $50,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile and $50,000 Prairie Gold Lassie, both 5 1/2-furlong sprints for 2-year-olds.
Good Lord, winner of the Don Bernhardt Stakes every summer since 2012 at Ellis Park, will try to make it four in a row Saturday in the 38th running of the 6 1/2-furlong race.
The Delaware Handicap undercard Saturday features three stakes, including the Grade 3 Kent, which has been moved to the biggest day of the Delaware Park season from its usual September spot on the calendar.
A maiden race for 2-year-old fillies at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., on Saturday that will bar entrants from receiving a race-day administration of the regulated anti-bleeding medication furosemide was split into two divisions Wednesday after drawing an overflow field.
Southern California-based trainer Peter Miller sends the stakes winner Richard’s Boy north to the California State Fair in Sacramento to run in Saturday’s $50,000-added Golden Bear for 3-year-olds.
Season Ticket will go back to the grass Sunday off a surging third in the Woodbine Oaks in the $150,000 Ontario Damsel Stakes for Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies. Season Ticket made her first four starts on the grass at three different tracks in the United States before running fourth on the Polytrack in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes here May 24.
