Raylene out to make amends

EDMONTON, Alberta - The question of whether A Shaky Start is for real should be answered in Sunday's $40,000 Northlands Oaks.

Owned by Gary and Janet Kropp and trainer Al Strumecki, A Shaky Start toppled the 3-5 favorite Raylene in the Chariot Chaser here June 29.

There will be a six-pound swing in the weights in favor of Raylene Sunday, however, and they will be going a mile instead of sprinting, with A Shaky Start having the outside post in a field of seven.

Raylene, a Kentucky-bred, was a runaway Alberta champion a year ago and picked up this spring where she had left off. She swept all three stakes available to her during the Calgary meet, but was life and death to get home by a neck in the 1 1/16-mile Penny Ridge.

A Shaky Start, who will be ridden by Leanne Painter, had two wins and a second against allowance opposition when she went postward in the Chariot Chaser at 9-1. She saved ground all the way and won handily by two lengths.

Despite the weight shift, Raylene still spots three pounds to A Shaky Start as the 122-pound highweight under David Wilson.

Reagally Light and Eradikate, the two-three finishers in the Penny Ridge, are also back in action here.

In the interim, Reagally Light won an allowance at Sunday's distance. She retains the services of leading rider Quincy Welch.

Eradikate, who will have Stephan Heiler aboard, has been third in her last three outings.