Harbour Gate, Dr. Kathy top OBS card
OCALA, Fla. - The Ocala Breeders Sales Company will hold its annual day of racing at the Ocala Training Center on Monday. The six races, which are restricted to OBS sales graduates, will offer total purses of $380,000.
There is no parimutuel wagering on any of the races.
The richest races on the day are the two $100,000 OBS Champion-ship Stakes for 3 year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.
Pat Day rides Harbour Gate, the horse to beat in the male division of the OBS Championship Stakes, while Edgar Prado will be aboard Dr. Kathy in the fillies division.
Harbour Gate, who is owned by Francis C. McDonnell, will face seven rivals, following the early scratch of Old Liar. A winner of 1 of 3 career starts, Harbour Gate finished eighth in the Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes in his last race after stalking a rapid pace.
Dr. Kathy, who is owned by Gainesway Stable and Lawrence Roman, heads a competitive field of 10. She won the Salem County Stakes at The Meadowlands last October and was third, beaten a half-length by Ashado and La Reina in the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct in November. Dr. Kathy's main competition should come from the multiple-stakes-placed Runaway Rizzi, who will be ridden by Manny Aguilar.
Two OBS Sprint Stakes are carded, one for fillies and the other for males. Each race carries a $50,000 purse and will be run at six furlongs. Kipper's Night, under Day, enters the male division off a $75,000 claiming victory at Gulfstream Park. In the filly division, Day rides Gimme Some Love, a debut winner at Belmont last October.
The $40,000 Florida Thorough-bred Charities Stakes, for 3-year-olds and up at five furlongs, drew a field of 11, including the millionaire Western Pride and Vision in Flight, who was stakes-placed five times in 2003.
Kiss Me Twice will be gunning for a repeat victory in the $40,000 Florida Breeders' Distaff for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. Jose Velez Jr. has the mount.
Other stakes winners in the field are Romancin Dixie, fourth to Kiss Me Twice last year, and Redoubled Miss.
Post time for the six-race program is 1:30 p.m. Eastern.