Trio practice going the wrong way

MIAMI - Anybody looking to get an early jump on handicapping the $50,000 King George's Wrong Way II Stakes on next Saturday's Extreme Day program should have been at Calder during training hours on Friday morning when three potential starters for the race turned in recorded workouts going clockwise over the turf course.

Bogangles, who finished a well-beaten fourth in the Wrong Way I Stakes on July 22 - run the "right way" when it was transferred to a sloppy main track - was the most impressive of the trio to breeze over the turf on Monday, going a half-mile in 49.44 seconds before galloping out five-eighths up the stretch to the eighth pole in 1:01.62. The 5-year-old Bogangles held the fence nicely and changed leads on cue as if he had been racing clockwise his entire career.

Mr. Willie Joe also did a good job of handling the turn and galloping out up the stretch in his first attempt to work clockwise. He was officially timed in 50.40 for a half-mile with a gallop-out of 1:03.

Mean Kisser, another potential starter for the King George, was timed five furlongs in 1:05.60 under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan in what was closer to an open gallop than an all-out work.

The King George Wrong Way is one of the more innovative of the five stakes to be decided, weather permitting, on Extreme Day II.

Northern shippers prominent

The invasion of Northern-based runners that began earlier this month could have a profound effect on the outcome of Sunday's $45,000 Stormy Frolic Stakes, with trainer Todd Pletcher sending in A P Easy and John Kimmel recent allowance winner Sparkling Pink for the 1 1/16-mile overnight event.

The 3-year-old A P Easy won her maiden by 11 1/4 lengths at Delaware on Aug. 23 but has started just once since, finishing third as the 3-5 favorite over the same course under entry-level allowance conditions two months later.

Sparkling Pink brings more impressive credentials to the table for her local debut, including a six-length second-level allowance win at the Meadowlands on Oct. 12.

The top local contenders for the Stormy Frolic are the multiple stakes winners Mia's Reflection, Amazing Speed, Running Lass, and Saffronista.

Three in a row for Nunez

Jockey Eduardo Nunez turned in a pure hat trick on Thursday, winning three consecutive races for different trainers. Nunez began the hot streak with Pago Island for trainer Steve DiMauro in the fifth race, received a leg up from trainer Frank Carlisi to upset the sixth aboard front-running winner Luke's Halo, and completed the three bagger aboard Clearly Cryptic for trainer Kathleen O'Connell.

* Anybody who backed Black Doom in Thursday's second race and expected a $4.80 payoff after the 2-year-old left the gate as the apparent 7-5 second choice was in for a rude surprise when the final mutuel prices were posted and the colt returned a mere $3.80 after registering an easy wire-to-wire victory. Black Doom was four lengths in front when his odds dropped from 7-5 to 4-5 in the final cycle of the tote board, as the field approached the quarter pole in the 5 1/2-furlong maiden claiming sprint.