Heritage Day richest of year

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - A total of 24 Saskatchewan-bred 2- and 3-year-olds will compete at Marquis Downs Saturday in four $10,000 Heritage races, making it the richest day of racing in the province.

The 2-year-olds will run 6 1/2 furlongs and the 3-year-olds will run 1 1/16 miles, with races for colts and geldings and fillies of each age.

Megan's Way and Lucky in the Lead headline the Parkland Heritage for 3-year-old fillies in the night's seventh race.

Megan's Way has been competing against some of the top 3-year-old fillies in Alberta, with a second-place finish versus allowance foes being her best result. Although she has been unplaced in her last three starts, including fourth- and sixth-place efforts in stakes, Megan's Way should prove very tough in this event.

Lucky in the Lead took the James Leakos Sophomore here Aug. 6 for her second win of the year, but her slow time of 1:43.20 for the mile raises some doubts. The second- through fourth-place finishers in the Leakos - including Allourwishes, the province's 2003 champion juvenile filly - also have been entered here.

The fifth race is the Shortgrass Heritage for 3-year-old males. Due to a training mishap, Steel Copy has not been entered, and that leaves the race wide open. Steel Copy has won four races in 2004, including the one-mile City of Bridges here two weeks ago.

The trio who finished second through fourth that day - Stage Whisper, Astapay, and Signal to Go - should vie for the top prize Saturday.

The Western Heritage, for 2-year-old colts and geldings, will be the third race, and the heavy favorite should be Fargo Forbes, who was a beaten choice in his first start before impressively wiring the field in the $17,800 Saskatchewan Futurity on July 31.

Fargo Forbes, with leading jockey Serge Rocheleau aboard, won by four lengths that day over Lambrose, who is among his five competitors on Saturday.

The Woodland Heritage, for 2-year-old fillies, goes as the first race and is a wide-open affair with six set to start. There are three first-time starters, and the three that have raced have yet to finish better than sixth.