Mr. Green finds a spot without Jackson Bend

MIAMI - It probably won't matter to Mr. Green who will be in the starting gate with him for Saturday's $27,000 allowance feature - just so long as Jackson Bend isn't in there, too.

Mr. Green has chased home local division leader Jackson Bend in each of his last three starts, all stakes, but will finally duck his nemesis and should be odds-on to capture the entry-level allowance dash for 2-year-olds at six furlongs.

Mr. Green was purchased privately by the Farnsworth Stables and Kramer Stable after impressively winning his career debut under a $50,000 claiming tag on June 6. Mr. Green then wasted little time stepping into stakes company, finishing a game third behind Jackson Bend and D' Funnybone after setting a contested pace in the Frank Gomez Memorial. D' Funnybone came out of that race to dominate the Saratoga Special in his next start.

Mr. Green and Jackson Bend have since renewed acquaintances twice more in the six-furlong Dr. Fager and seven-furlong Affirmed divisions of the Florida Stallion stakes with little change in the results. Mr. Green would contest the pace and prove best of the early speed before proving no match for Jackson Bend in the final sixteenth of a mile. The combined margin of defeat in Mr. Green's three setbacks at the hands of Jackson Bend this summer is less than 4 1/2 lengths.

With no Jackson Bend to worry about Saturday and breaking from the outside post, Mr. Green should cruise to an easy victory. His top three Beyer Speed Figures far exceed anything his five rivals have produced. Among the leading contenders to complete the exacta are Gesu and Cruzin With Cash, who finished third and seventh in the Fasig-Tipton Turf Dash three weeks earlier.

Several hours earlier, 2-year-old fillies will compete under similar entry-level allowance conditions in a much more competitive event. Phone Marybe, who has failed to reproduce her impressive debut win here in three subsequent stakes opportunities, dons blinkers for the first time, and could bounce back with a big effort. She'll get tested early by the speedy Mioca, who set fact fractions en route to an easy debut win Aug. 29.

A quick pace should play right into the hands of either Sweet Like Sugar or Checkitoff, who finished third and fourth in the Catcharisingstar Stakes on the turf.

Man faces charges in slaughters

Luis Miguel Cordero was arrested by Hialeah and Miami Dade police on Tuesday and faces multiple felony charges, including conspiracy to commit animal cruelty with intent to injure or kill. The arrest came in the wake of 20 horse slaughters that have taken place in south Florida this year. None of those killings involved any horses racing at Gulfstream Park or Calder.

Cordero's capture was the result of a tip officers received from Crime Stoppers of Miami-Dade County, a community action program that gives citizens the opportunity to become involved in the fight against crime. Last week, Calder Race Course pledged $3,000 to Crime Stoppers to raise the reward money for a tip resulting in the arrest of those responsible.